Wolfen Das Tier in Mir
by Maurelle
Summary: NaruSasu After the death of his mother Naruto moves in with his father. Unfortunately, the town is small and boring. That is until Naruto meets Sasuke. All too quickly he is sucked into a world that seems almost spun from one of his mother's tales.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Yes, I know that I should be working on NW, but it and I are having a bit of an...argument. Mostly A to C issues involving how to get from A to B in order to reach C. This spawned, believe it or not, from my outrage at the number of furry and wer ficus out there that are badly written. Yes, I have found a few well written ones and bow down to such authors, but they are few and far between. So I decided to try my hand at it. I'll let you judge whether or not I made the cut.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto characters. If I did, Sasuke and Naruto would be dating, Obito would be harassing the hell out of Kakashi, and Itachi would be a door to door soap salesman.

Rating: This chapter? PG. Overall? M for violence and perhaps a bit of lemony goodness at some point.

Naruto watched the rain as it ran down the window of his father's old beat up ford. The truck, like most of the cars in the one horse town, was way past its prime, but somehow still running. The small Tennessee town was a big change from the streets of LA, where Naruto had spent most of his life. His mother had been a big shot sci-fi screen writer, making the daily commute to Hollywood in order to sell her scripts. It was hard for him to believe that this was where she had grown up. Living his life in Southern California he was more used to the harsh desert landscape than the plush pine forest of the Appalachians. The smell of evergreens was thick, and the color of the changing leaves startling. The only time he had ever seen anything like this was on a postcard from the man sitting next to him. His mother and father had split on good terms a year after his birth. His mother wanted to chase her dreams and his father was all too content to be the sheriff of the town. Naruto had spent his childhood never doubting that he was loved by both parents.

"Are you sure that you want to start school today? It's okay with me if you wait until tomorrow. Your flight got in late last night," his father said sounding a little anxious. He looked a lot like Naruto; he was blonde and blue eyed with tan skin that most surfers would kill to have. Naruto just sighed and leaned back in the seat. He couldn't wait until his stuff finally arrived. He missed his bike with a passion.

"I might as well go. There is nothing else to do in this town," Naruto told him. His father stiffened a little at the wheel. His father loved this town, but what Naruto said was true. The town really consisted of a post office, school, and church. They had to drive at least two hours to the nearest grocer and even further than that if they wanted any kind of entertainment Naruto was used to. He was stuck in Hicksville and he hated it.

"Now, Naruto," his father began in his best lecturing tone. His father had never been good at the discipline end of things. He normally just left that up to Naruto's mother, but with her dead he was going to have to take on that responsibility too. "I know that we are way out in the middle of the boonies, but there are plenty of things to do. There's the lake, you can go hiking, and we have satellite TV." Naruto rolled his eyes as his dad came to a stop in morning drop off traffic. He was only about thirty feet from the school. He reached into the back seat and grabbed his messenger bag. It was a bright, almost blinding orange and a gag present from his best friend back home. He had gotten him an entire orange assemble for the up-coming school year saying something about how ridiculous he was going to look.

"Of course, Dad," Naruto said with a tone of long suffering, "we have TV. All my problems are solved. I'll see you tonight." Naruto opened the door before his father could continue on with his lecture. It wasn't raining that hard, but Naruto knew he was going to be damp before he made the overhang. His dad rolled down the window so he could talk to him.

"Call me if you need a ride home; I've got graveyard shift tonight," his father said and Naruto nodded slinging his bag over his shoulder. "And remember: home before dark." Naruto made a face where his father couldn't see as he walked away with a little half-wave. That had been his curfew ever since he was old enough to have a curfew at thirteen. His father said it had something to do with the fact that there was a thriving wildlife population and he didn't want his son to get hurt. Naruto chalked it up to his father being over protective. There hadn't been a wildlife incident in years. Naruto never said anything about it, though. There wasn't enough to do in the town to keep him out that late.

* * *

He hit the overhang not a second too soon as the pleasant rain shower had turned into a practical monsoon. He shook the water out of his hair, the gold spikes easily falling into the messy surfer look her preferred. He ignored the looks he got as he made his way to the office. He looked out of place in his burnt orange cargo shorts and black tee. He knew that his jewelry was getting as much attention as his looks. He had a yellow diamond in one ear and a couple of stud bracelets on his wrists. The town was backwater enough that he knew he was likely going to get it for his free California ways. He opened the door to the office and smiled at the receptionist. He knew her from his frequent visits to see his father and his father's family. Her name was Shizune and she was the best friend of his grandmother.

"Hey, Shizune," Naruto said as he made his way to the front desk. She smiled at him and immediately began searching through the stacks of paper on it. "Do you have something for me?"

"I know I put it here somewhere!" Shizune said as she shifted through growing amounts of paperwork. She made an ahah noise as she found the small slip of paper she was looking for. "I tried to put you in classes that I knew you would like, but this is a small school, Naruto." Naruto nodded as he looked at the paper. He made a face at some of the classes. He hated English and it was his first class! He could deal with that, though, because he had study hall afterwards and then lunch. It would've been great if there had been somewhere to go to eat.

"It's fine, Shizune," Naruto said offering her a grin. "I'll see you later." He turned to leave. She had looked like she was about to say something about his mother and it was the last thing he wanted to hear right now. All the sympathy he was getting from people was starting to smoother him. He knew what a loss his mother was, he didn't need to hear about from people who had barely known her. He walked back outside absorbed in the mini-map that he had gotten earlier. He could never understand why they insisted on making the type so small. So absorbed in his battle against the small type he never saw the guy he ran into. They both ended up sprawled on the ground, Naruto on top. Naruto did a one handed push-up, his other hand still clenching his papers.

"Sorry," he said as he got off the other. He offered him a hand. The other guy took it without a word. "I can be really clumsy sometimes," Naruto said laughing a little awkwardly. Now that he could see the other properly he found himself coming up with one word: beautiful. He was tall and slender with skin the color of alabaster and midnight black eyes. His hair was styled so that it stuck up in the back and was the color of an oil slick: black until the light hit it, and then it was a myriad of color. He wore black jeans and a red shirt with the words Armani Exchange written across it in white.

"Like something you see, dumbass?" he said his voice oddly rich. Naruto was half tempted to nod, but realized that he was surrounded by curious onlookers. That and he had just been insulted.

"Hey!" Naruto said, his anger catching up with him to the point were he had trouble coming up with some kind of comeback. The other just raised his eyebrow before shaking his head and walking around Naruto. Naruto followed him, turning. Before he could say anything the bell rang and Naruto was left to once more try to find his English class.

* * *

He ended up late to his English class which was taught by a witch of a woman. She had made him stand in front of the class and introduce himself. Not that Naruto normally had trouble with such a thing. He liked being the center of attention generally. But she made him tell everyone why he had moved here. Study hall had been a success in that it allowed him to map out the way to all his other classes so that he wouldn't get lost. It also helped that he had finally made a friend of sorts. Her name was Sakura. She had bright pink hair from a dye job gone wrong and green eyes. She was boyishly built and trying to make up for it by wearing the most revealing clothes she could get away with. She was nice, but very talkative. She had made it her mission to get him up to date on all the gossip he missed by not growing up here.

"And those are the unknowns," Sakura was saying as they went through the lunch line. Naruto turned his head to glance where she was pointing and blinked. At the table she was pointing to was the guy from earlier. He sat with four other students. They were laughing and joking around him, but he seemed to almost be apart from the exchange. "We call them that because no one knows a lot about them. They all moved here at the same time a couple of years ago. They never really made much of an effort to fit in. It's a shame really. Sasuke is so hot." Sakura led them to a table. There were three other people already sitting there. A long haired blonde girl and two guys: one black haired and one brown. The blonde looked up at him and smiled.

"You must be the new kid. I'm Ino. Everyone is talking about your fall with Sasuke. I'm surprised you're in one piece," she said making room on the plastic bench so that he could sit next to her. Naruto put down his tray.

"Why? It's not like the ground is that far away," Naruto said as he bit into his apple. He made a face and almost spat it back out. It tasted like wax. Ino giggled at his face.

"You learn not to eat the food here," she motioned to the fact that she and the other three were sporting packed lunches. Sakura had a tray like him and was sipping her juice box. "Sasuke Uchiha is a real oddball," Ino said in a hushed whisper. "He beat the shit out of some kid for hitting him with a ball in doge ball." Sakura nodded her head. Naruto looked at the back of Sasuke's head from where he was sitting.

"I heard that he was caught smoking outside the gym and rather than take the rap for it, put Coach Wills in a coma," Sakura said. "It's sad. He looks so good." The black haired guy from across the table snorted. Both Ino and Sakura glared at him. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but was so short it stuck up looking like a pineapple.

"Please," Shikamaru said. "You both know Coach Wills was in a car accident and Jim Davis challenged him to a fight because his girlfriend kept giving him eyes. Don't go filling his head with nonsense." Both girls made an indignant noise at his accusations. "I'm Shikamaru, by the way. And this is Choiji." Naruto nodded to the big brown haired guy next to Shikamaru.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," he said before looking at the rest of his lunch in depression. Not even the mashed potatoes looked like mashed potatoes.

"Sheriff Minato is your father, right?" Choiji said between bites of his own lunch. Naruto nodded. Sakura let out a little squeal of excitement that had Naruto cringing away from her.

"Oh my god," she said clasping her hands together, "he is so dreamy. I used to have the biggest crush on him when I was little." Naruto wondered if it was possible to die from embarrassment. He, like most teenagers, did not want to think of his parents in terms of sex objects. It was wrong on so many levels.

"Cut it out, Sakura," Ino said poking the other girl with one of her carrot sticks. "You're going to make the poor guy sick." Sakura made a face. She had clearly been in her happy place, not that Naruto wanted to know what it contained. They were saved further lunch conversation by the bell. Naruto looked down at his still empty stomach and made a face. At least his father had bought groceries. He would be able to make something half-way decent to eat when he got home.

* * *

Naruto found his last class of the day without incident. It was honors biology and one of the few classes he actually liked. The teacher was a man who went by the name Iruka and nothing else. He had a large scar across his nose from a riding accident when he was younger and kind brown eyes. He had merely looked at Naruto's schedule and added him to his roll.

"Welcome to honors bio, Naruto," Iruka said with a smile as he surveyed the room. The class was packed. It was clear that whether you liked the class or not most liked the teacher and that was enough to fill his classes up. There was only one open seat in the room and it was next to Sasuke Uchiha. He sat on his end of the lab table looking bored. Iruka spotted the seat at the same time Naruto did and motioned him over to it. "Why don't you take a seat next to Sasuke?" Naruto nodded and went to sit down. He hung his bag over the back of the lab stool and got out a spiral notebook.

"Okay, class," Iruka said clapping his hands together to get the attention of his students. Once everyone was quite he smiled. "Today we'll be doing a lab on meiosis and mitosis. Can anyone tell me what that difference is?" There was silence in the room for a moment. Iruka sighed and feeling bad for him Naruto raised his hand. "Yes, Naruto?"

"Meiosis is the process used by single celled organisms to replicate via splitting into two smaller cells," Naruto said. Iruka nodded as he walked up and down the rows of lab tables.

"Very good. However, that is only half the answer. Can anyone tell me what mitosis is?" Iruka asked looking up and down the rows. Naruto nearly started when Sasuke just started talking; his voice wrapping around Naruto like warm liquid.

"Mitosis is the process that muliti-celled organisms use to regenerate cells. The process is more complex than the simple splitting of cells that meiosis uses," Sasuke said. Iruka nodded like this was normal behavior for Sasuke. Iruka went on to explain the lab which would consist of identifying different slides as either meiosis or mitosis, and if the slide was mitosis which stage of mitosis the cell was in. Due to a shortage of microscopes you ended up partnered with the other person at your table.

"Okay," Naruto said as he set the box of slides down. "I think we got off to a bad start. My name's Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto offered. He figured that if they had to work together he might as well try to make friends with the other. Sasuke looked at him for a second. He seemed almost angry about something before a blank expression covered it.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he said before reaching for the slide labeled number one. Naruto made a face at him as he looked into the microscope. This guy really was a jerk. "Meiosis," he said a second later. Naruto checked the little box labeled meiosis next to slide number one on the lab sheet. Sasuke reached for the next slide and snapped it into place. Seconds later he called out what it was. They went through three more slides that way before Naruto finally started to get irritated. He had a right to look at the slides too. It wasn't just the other's grade. He waited until Sasuke called out what he believed the slide to be before he made his move.

"Can I see?" Naruto asked moving so that he was almost on top of the other to get a look at the slide. Sasuke stiffened like he had been hit at the proximity. Slowly he moved away from the microscope and looked at Naruto. The anger from before was back again. He glared at Naruto for a second before moving away from the microscope.

"Be my guest, dumbass," he said as he traded places. Naruto gave him a look. "Just be sure you get them all right." Naruto glared, not even bothering with the slides.

"I'm not a dumbass! I have a name. Not only that, but I bet that I know as much about this subject as you. I did get half of the question Iruka asked right." Sasuke just sneered at him.

"The easiest half. I bet it was all just luck anyway," Sasuke said. Naruto glared at him wondering what would happen if he tried to kill the other with his ballpoint pin. Sasuke just watched, looking like he was bored. The lack of expression irritated Naruto as much as the words out of Sasuke's mouth. "What's the matter, dumbass? Cat got your tongue?" It was the last straw for Naruto and lunged at the other. They hit the ground again, this time with more force than before. Sasuke looked startled at the impact, while Naruto was immediately feeling remorse. He didn't want to get into trouble on his first day. His dad would be so disappointed. Iruka was there in an instant, the sound of the slides breaking when they hit the floor followed by the sound of the two of them alerting him to something gone wrong.

"Is everything okay here boys?" Iruka asked as Naruto got off Sasuke for the second time that day. He didn't offer Sasuke help up this time, though. He smiled at Iruka sheepishly. His mind could come up with nothing but the truth to tell him.

"I tripped and grabbed him to keep from falling," Sasuke lied. Naruto looked at him for a second in surprise, but quickly covered it. If Sasuke wanted to say that it was an accident he wasn't going to nay say him. Especially since he made it look like it was his fault.

"Alright," Iruka said motioning for everyone else to get back to work. "Get these slides cleaned up." Iruka took their paper and walked off with it. Naruto followed Sasuke out into the hall to get the dustpan and broom out of the janitor's closet.

"Thanks," Naruto said as he was handed the broom. Sasuke looked at him coldly for a second before heading back to the classroom.

"Don't get any illusions. I only said that because I didn't want to spend the afternoon in detention," Sasuke said. Naruto nodded understanding. This had been one hell of a first day of school.

* * *

Sasuke opened the door to his house. The place was huge. It had once been a thriving farm house, but the fields had long since been allowed to go back to their natural state. He walked by the answering machine noting the flashing red button. He pushed play as he walked into the kitchen to see about fixing something to eat. He never ate at school. He didn't want anyone to comment on his diet. He poured oil into a skillet, the temperature turned up to high as the message began playing.

"Hey, lil'bro, it's Kisame and Itachi," Sasuke smirked as he put his hand over the pan to test the heat. Kisame was his brother's best friend and had been since Sasuke was in diapers. The man was large and gruff, but had the heart of a teddy bear. Kisame and his brother were off touring the world looking for a cure for their curse. "I don't know what time it is over there, but I hope we're not waking you. We've found some real promising leads in India. It seems that your condition is more common over here than what we came across in Europe. Unfortunately, the reception up here is shit, so we may not call for a while. Don't worry." There was a couple of seconds pause and Sasuke put the piece of steak into the pan creating a hiss. He counted to five before flipping it over.

"Itachi says to remember to drive out at least sixty miles before the full moon and to watch your temper. We'll see you when we see you." There was a long beep as the message ended. Sasuke shook his head as he put the meat on the plate. It was still bleeding and mostly raw, but it was the only way he could eat it. His condition severely limited his diet. His brother couldn't even tolerate the meat cooked as little as it was now. Sasuke sat down to eat thinking about what the message had said. It was good news that his brother had found more people like them. Sasuke and Itachi had grown up thinking they were the only ones with this condition, a condition that revolved around thirty days and eight hours. Sasuke and Itachi were lycanthropes. They had caught the disease the way most did: an attack. Itachi and Sasuke had been out hiking when the crazy wer had come across them. They were lucky that Kisame had been in the area hunting. He had blown the wer's head off, but not before the two of them had ended up bitten. By the next full moon both brothers had come face to face with their beasts. Sasuke had met the sleek, black panther that was his other form and Itachi had met his regal tiger. They had coped the best they could over the years.

Sasuke put his dish in the sink as he finished the steak, wandering up to his room. His parents had died when he was eight and his brother seventeen. His brother had shown that he could take care of the two of them and court had allowed them to stay out of foster homes. Sasuke could only imagine the horror that foster homes would've been with his condition. Speaking of his condition, he thought of the blonde he had literally bumped into that day. His scent had woken his beast from its normal slumber inside him. It had tried to claw its way out of his guts as he stood there talking to the dumbass in the hallway. Biology had been agony. He had never had his beast react this way before. Most of the time it was content to stay quiet unless it was close to the full moon; it was then that Sasuke had to watch his temper. It was possible for him to call on his beast at any point in the lunar cycle, but it was the most active then. Strong emotions could bring it on.

Sasuke threw himself onto the bed, grabbing the remote to his stereo system, the melancholy tones of Cold filling the room. He rolled over then and started up his computer. One thing that both he and his brother found was that the internet was a great place to look for information about their condition. It had explained why the two of them had gotten sick due to the amount of vegetables in their diet and the bit about how their other form was meant to last about eight hours and that shifting before that time was up was dangerous. He went right to the information site that they had found to be mostly accurate. He began to look up reason for his beast to be active outside the full moon. Unfortunately, he didn't find anything on it being active outside of anger. Well, he had but he quickly disregarded it. There had been a short article on how beasts were able to recognize their mates and that this recognition could bring on odd behavior until the human took satisfactory action. Sasuke had dismissed the article because of the fact that Naruto was male and he was certain there was no attraction there.

Sasuke turned the computer off and walked back downstairs so that he could get his bag and get started on his homework. The whole way up and down all he could think of was the dumbass from his biology class and the one article he found. He decided to look at the other from an outside perspective, how his panther would think of him. Naruto was young, practically in his prime for the human species. He was strong if those swimmer built muscles meant anything and he was clearly healthy. Genealogically speaking, the two of them were opposites; Naruto blonde and blue eyed while Sasuke was dark. Genealogic diversity was important to animals and had been shown to be one of the factors of attraction between them. Naruto fit in all the categories that he could see his beast having. There was only one problem: mating was meant to reproduce. Naruto was male. There was no way the two of them could have children. What was his beast thinking?

* * *

Naruto had a pleasant surprise when he got home, having gotten a ride from Sakura in her F-150. The car was a monster and Naruto didn't even want to think about what it was doing to the environment. They had pulled into the driveway and found the moving truck was there. Naruto had practically jumped out of the moving truck in his haste to get to his stuff. Sakura had just laughed and waved, Naruto was her last stop and she had to get home to help her mother with dinner. She did, however, roll down the window to ask if he would need a ride tomorrow morning. He responded in the negative and she smiled as she pulled out of the drive. Naruto was nice if a little weird.

Naruto grinned as he saw his bike sitting in the driveway. It was a CC Lady in Black-one of only a hundred made and had cost his mother a fortune. It was no longer the black and red it had been originally, he had saved up and gotten a custom paint job. It now sported a running nine-tailed fox from Korean myth called a Kyuubi. He ran his hands down the side almost lovingly. While most teens wanted four wheels he was more than content with two. He was so concentrated on making sure that the bike was without a mark that he didn't sense his father coming up behind him.

"I think I can see why you were so eager for the moving truck to get here," Minato said as he crouched down to get a better look. Naruto turned to look at him with a smile on his face.

"Mom always said she was scared to death that I was going to wreck on it and break my neck, but that her worry was nothing compared to the joy she saw on my face when I rode it," Naruto said softly. He looked almost pained at the memory. Minato reached a hand up and squeezed Naruto's shoulder in an attempt at comfort. They had both lost someone precious.

"Sounds like your mother," Minato acknowledged as he stood. "What do you say we order a pizza and help direct the movers as to where everything goes?" Naruto's stomach chose that moment to remind him that his lunch had consisted on a single bite of a very waxy apple. He made a face at the thought of pizza. All that grease and cheese sounded so unappealing.

"How about I cook and you direct traffic? You are the cop after all," Naruto said moving out of the way of the playful swipe by his father. Minato nodded and the two of them walked into the house.

* * *

Two hours later Naruto had finally finished unpacking his room. What had once been nothing more than a wardrobe, a desk, and a bed was now full to the brim with his things from California. His sleek little apple laptop sat on the desk along with his iPod stereo. The speakers hung from different corners of his room so that it would be like surround sound. His surf board hung on the wall over his bed where it would likely stay until summer when he could try to convince his dad to let him spend some time with his best friend from back home. A mish-mash of posters of various rock artists and surfers now littered the walls, overlapping in some places. A scattering of CDs and books covered the entertainment center he had brought from home. In it were his TV and various gaming consoles.

Naruto sprawled across his bed as Reel Big Fish began to play on his phone. It was enough to bring a small smile to his lips. He slid the cover up on his phone so that he could see the keypad as he read the text message. It was from Kiba, his best friend from back home. They had never spent much more than the three weeks a year Naruto spent visiting his father apart. His mother used to joke that they were conjoined twins that had been separated at birth.

_Yo, Blondie, how was school?_ Naruto read the message and thought about what to tell him. It had been uneventful minus that weird guy in his biology class. He was nice looking if a little odd. He reminded Naruto of a cat that one of his other friends had. The first couple of times he had met the cat it had been nasty, but it got used to him over time. Maybe that was what he needed to do with this odd guy.

_Same BS, different state. Ran into an odd guy._ Naruto hit enter and waited for Kiba to respond. Maybe he would have some idea on how to handle him. Not that Kiba was the person you went to when you wanted advice on friends. That had always been Hinata's department. Naruto's eyes flicked back to the screen at the tone.

_I'm guessing literally w/ ur luck. How odd?_ Naruto bit his bottom lip as he thought. Sasuke really wasn't that odd when he got down to it. It was more like he gave off some weird vibe. It made Naruto want to know more about him. Why did he get angry whenever Naruto was around? Naruto winced as he heard his dad call from downstairs. He was leaving for work and wanted Naruto to start on his homework.

_Just odd. G2G. _Naruto hit the send button and rolled so that he was sitting on his bed. Seconds later he got a parting greeting from Kiba. He missed home. He missed being able to talk to Kiba for hours face to face not via text. He was certain that Kiba would understand what he meant about the weird vibe if he had met Sasuke. He wanted Hinata's advice on how to handle the situation even if she would blush and stutter. He wanted to go home.


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: I think I forgot to tell everyone where the title for this fic came from. It is from a song by a German group called E nomine. They are a very cool group and all it takes is one listen to understand why it is the title of the fic. You don't even have to speak German!

Rating: This chapter? PG Overall? M

* * *

A couple of weeks flew by and a routine was settled into. Naruto would ride his bike to school. He had managed to get quite the reaction when he had showed up on it. Everyone had wanted to come up and look at it and he had been late for English a second time. He followed the routine set out in the classes until lunch, when he sat with Sakura and company. He repeated the earlier routine until he got to honors biology. He and Sasuke had a little bit of a truce going on. They were snarky and mean to one another, but they never did anything that could cost them their grade. All in all, it was a good routine. That all changed, however, when Sakura mentioned Homecoming.

"Why don't you come down to Feller's Field and help build floats, Naruto?" Sakura asked with her bottom lip stuck out in an attempt to pout. Naruto rolled his eyes. He really wanted nothing to do with the building of floats for a parade that was going to take place four hours away. He had never done float building back home. But he wasn't about to tell Sakura no and come face to face with scary Sakura. He had seen her come out a couple times with Shikamaru and he never wanted to experience being the one she was focused on.

"When?" Naruto asked as he stuffed chips in his mouth. He had gotten smart and started preparing his own lunch before hand. Sakura seemed to think about it for a minute.

"We start right after school, but go till about midnight or one," Sakura said as she sipped what Naruto now knew was a high protein shake. Apparently, she thought that she would develop curves if she starved herself long enough. The last time scary Sakura had come out was when Shikamaru pointed out the flaw in that logic.

"I might be able to go for a couple of hours, but my dad wants me in before it gets dark. He's over protective like that," Naruto said with a shrug. All movement at the table stopped at his words. No one would meet his eyes. "What?"

"I didn't think that anyone still believed that," Ino said though it was clear she still believed. "A couple of years back a bunch of people were killed by a wild animal. It was really odd because it only struck at night and seemed to almost lure people to it. No one ever managed to figure out what was doing it and one day it just stopped." Naruto felt his eyebrows creep up towards his hairline. That was a hair raising tale. He had never heard anything about it, but was betting that was largely his father's doing. His mother never would've allowed him to visit with something like that going on.

"That seems kind of normal, though. A rabid animal comes through, kills, and moves on," Naruto said with a shrug and looking to Shikamaru for support. Oddly he seemed to be studying his food, deep in thought.

"That's not all though," Sakura said, leaning in as though sharing some great secret. "Old man Johnson claimed that he saw it. He said that it was some kind of creature and not an animal at all. He says that he saw a ten foot tall biped with all the animal-like features of a wolf." Naruto shook his head at Sakura. You didn't have to be the son of a sci-fi fanatic to know what she was alluding to.

"A werewolf, Sakura? You believe a werewolf killed all those people and then just left. I'm gullible, but not that gullible," Naruto said rolling his eyes. No one said anything after that and it was oddly quiet at the table for the rest of lunch. Naruto made it through math and gym, thinking about what the others had said. They really seemed to believe this nonsense about a werewolf. Naruto was relieved to be in biology. There would be no talk of werewolves in that class.

* * *

"Today class," Iruka said as he set up the overhead projector to indicate that they were going to spend the class taking notes, "We are going to discuss viruses and gene mutation. Can anyone tell me what a virus is?" Sasuke began talking before anyone could even raise their hands.

"Viruses are parasites that consist of nothing except a protein outer coating and DNA. They rely on another organism's cells to reproduce by interrupting the normal DNA replication process and making a cell create of more it instead," the venom in Sasuke's voice was surprising. The subject matter was hardly something most would take personally. Iruka looked a bit startled as he nodded and continued his lecture. Sasuke on the other hand was playing a mental game of tag with his beast. The full moon was three days away and he was not in good shape. His beast had not settled down in Naruto's presence, in fact it seemed to grow more agitated as time went on.

Sasuke watched Naruto out of the corner of his eye and noted how he seemed to be distracted by something on his mind. He had done a little bit of research on the other via the internet. He had found out about Naruto's mother and her death as well as the fact that his father was the local sheriff. He had also learned from his myspace page that he was an avid surfer. This all led to him wanting to ask the other questions, but knowing that it would go beyond the boundaries of their current truce. He was not ready to go out on a limb like that, yet. His beast chose that moment to give a particularly nasty swipe through his guts, claws extended. Sasuke just about doubled over from the pain, hissing before he could think about it. He looked around the room to find everyone looking at him. Even Naruto seemed to be concerned.

"I'm not feeling well. Can I be excused?" Sasuke asked through clenched teeth. His beast seemed very satisfied with itself. Iruka nodded and Sasuke grabbed his bag, all but running out of the classroom. This was the last thing he needed. He didn't even bother with the nurse's office, heading straight out to his truck. He needed to get home before he gave into his beast's urgings just to avoid the pain. He never noticed that he had left his notebook full of notes next to Naruto on the lab table.

* * *

Naruto finished up his last class worried about Sasuke. He had really seemed like he was in pain. He was in the process of putting his own things in his bag when he noticed Sasuke's notebook was still on the lab table. It was really none of his business, but it looked like Sasuke was really hurting. It couldn't hurt to take him his notebook and offer him the few notes Naruto had taken. Naruto grabbed the notebook and headed towards the front office. He had no clue where Sasuke lived, so he was going to have to butter Shizune up about it. Unfortunately, he ran into Sakura and company on the way.

"Hey, Naruto. We were fixing to head out to Feller's. Did you want to follow us?" Sakura asked with a smile. Naruto felt kind of bad for what he was about to do, but he didn't really want to spend his free time stuffing twirled napkins into chicken wire and he was really worried about Sasuke.

"I can't," Naruto said doing his best to sound devastated by the fact he wouldn't be able to come. "I have to drop this off at someone's house for Iruka." He waved the notebook around hoping he was fast enough that they wouldn't be able to catch the name printed neatly on the cover. Sakura pouted, but she was not one to go up against something that a teacher had asked Naruto to do. It was Friday so she knew that Naruto likely really needed to get the notebook to whomever it belonged to.

"Whose is it? Maybe we can give you directions," Ino said with a smile. Naruto knew that she was trying to help, but he really didn't want to tell her who the notebook belonged to. He had a feeling that she would do some not nice things if she found out where Sasuke lived. He could imagine her and Sakura hiding in the bushes outside the other's house and becoming full-fledged stalkers.

"Don't worry about it," Naruto said moving to walk around them. He had a feeling that the longer he stood there the closer they were going to come to figuring out who the notebook belonged to. "I was just going to ask Shizune." He practically fled in his haste to get away from them. Naturally, this left everyone except for Shikamaru puzzled. Shikamaru had seen the name printed on the corner and knew that Iruka would never ask one of his students to return something. Iruka was more likely to return it himself. The only reason he kept his mouth shut was the fact that it would require too much effort to tell his observations to the others.

* * *

Sasuke sat in the middle of his living room hands fisted in his hair. His beast was angry, pissed, at him. It kept swiping its claws along Sasuke's insides and trying to force the change. Sasuke had contained it by pure will power. He was unsure how he had managed to drive home with the way it was acting. While communication with your beast was limited he could get something off it. All he found when he asked why it was acting up was the repeated image of Naruto. His beast wanted Naruto; whether it was to kill him or not, Sasuke didn't know. And he couldn't take that chance. So he continued to eat his beast each time it came rushing up his throat.

He didn't know how long he stayed on the floor of his living room arguing with his beast about the change. But his inner turmoil was interrupted by knocking coming from his front door. The second that the sound echoed through the room his beast vanished. Sasuke blinked and stood on shaking legs for a second. This was decidedly odd. His beast had never just given up like that before. It was nearly as stubborn as he was. He had a feeling that the beast merged a little of it's personality into his. The knocking became more insistent and Sasuke made his way to the door. Like most people in a small town he didn't bother to see who it was that was behind the door before opening it. If he had he may not have opened the door.

Sasuke opened the door and came face to face with Naruto. His beast took advantage of the other's momentary shock and rushed through him, driving Sasuke to his knees in the agony of a rushed change. For a second the world around him exploded in millions of pinpoints of pain, and the next his world was so different than it was before. Color was sharper and harsher. Thousands of smells hit his nose, one stronger than the others. He was looking up at Naruto, who was looking at him opened mouthed. This was great. Wonderful. Exactly what he needed in his life. He didn't even stop to wonder at the odd purring coming from his own throat.

Naruto, for his part, wasn't sure what he should be feeling. He believed, reasonably, that he was in shock. He was covered head to toe in some kind of warm almost gelatinous substance. He was guessing that it was from when Sasuke had almost seemed to burst into the large, black panther that was currently licking the same substance from its fur on Sasuke's stoop. A loud rumbling purr could be heard coming from it, which Naruto took to mean that it wasn't interested in tearing his throat out. Which was a very good thing in his opinion.

"Like something you see, dumbass?" Sasuke asked, his voice an odd deep rumble in his throat. Naruto blinked once, twice before the spell of shock was disbursed. Naruto let out a whimper and started to slowly back up, the notebooks in his hands completely forgotten. "Don't," Sasuke said not liking the feeling of anticipation building in his gut. It was too similar to what he felt just before he rushed his prey. "I'm hanging on by a thread, Naruto. If you turn around, if you run, I will pounce." It was almost a physical pain for Sasuke to say that. So much of his ability to move, to hunt, came from the panther's instincts. But, you couldn't have the panther's instincts without the panther. It was there, filling the panther's body with Sasuke as almost a second presence to it. Had it been the full moon, Sasuke would have no control over what his beast wanted to do. That was the reason he always made sure he was out of town that night.

Naruto froze at those words. He knew common sense when he heard it. It was hard, however, not to move back as Sasuke walked forward, all feline grace. Everything about him screamed danger and the human body had two responses to danger: fight or flight. Neither of those was the smartest action at the moment. Sasuke let his beast creep forward, giving in a little to what it wanted in order to keep control. He butted his head against Naruto's legs, much like a house cat would to its owner. Unfortunately, Naruto's legs had been having a hard time holding him up with the fear coursing through him, so they buckled and Naruto ended up on his ass. Sasuke let out a rumbling laugh as he walked forward. The laugh helped Naruto cut through the shock and the fear with an emotion he was quite well acquainted with: anger. Naruto clung to it like a drowning man a life line.

"What's so funny?" Naruto snarled. Sasuke stopped laughing as he was overcome with a feeling of curiosity. The feeling was not really his, but in this form he and his beast shared a lot of the thought process. The large cat was trying to decide whether or not Naruto was prey. So far it didn't think so, but anything could tip the scales. Sasuke leaned over and ran his tongue over one fluid covered cheek.

"You're quite a sight," Sasuke said as he sat on his haunches next to Naruto. He continued to lick the substance off of the other, thinking nothing of it. Things were the clear and simple in a way that only this form could bring on. He wanted to clean the other off so he did. Naruto made a face at the continued attention. It wasn't terribly unpleasant. Sasuke's tongue was dry and rough, closer to fine grated sandpaper than what most would think a tongue should feel like.

"Yeah, well," Naruto said scrunching up his nose as Sasuke started on his ears. This situation was very surreal. "You're the one that covered me in this." Sasuke stopped cleaning as a noise in the bushes caught his attention. He was downwind and could tell it was an early deer. His panther was switching modes. It was hungry and deer smelled just right. He moved past Naruto, oddly silent for his size. He crouched low before turning around to look at Naruto over his shoulder.

"Don't be here when I get back," Sasuke said his eyes narrowing as he looked at the other. He had a secret to keep and he was uncertain the other could keep it. "It would be best if you just forgot this happened." He then turned around and leapt into the bushes without making the slightest sound. Naruto was left blinking at the sudden display of animal grace. It took a second before the warning caught up with him. He was up and moving towards his bike before he thought about it. He swung his leg over it and was about to kick up the kickstand when it hit him just what had happened. He had just seen a guy he sort of knew from school turn into a panther. A panther that could talk and that still had his mind behind it. Sasuke hadn't hurt him, just warned him off.

Naruto frowned as a glop of whatever the hell he was covered in plopped down onto the shiny paint of his bike. He glared at the substance like it was something evil. A thought began to creep into his mind. Sasuke wasn't here right now, hell, he could be gone for a long time. Surely, he wouldn't notice if Naruto took a shower and washed his clothes? Sasuke was the one responsible for the mess they were in anyway. Nodding, Naruto swung his leg back over his bike and walked into the wide open front door. Such carelessness.

* * *

The shower had been wonderful, and left Naruto with a new soap to try out. It smelled better than his current one he was sure. He was currently in his boxers, which had been spared the wraith of what Naruto decided to call the slime. He was washing his clothes for the tenth time. They still hadn't come clean. It seemed like the process that the washer was using to wash them was somehow making the slime mold itself to his clothes. It was getting dark outside, and he really needed to be leaving if he was planning on getting home before dark. His father had mentioned that he would be home around six and Naruto knew he would go ballistic if Naruto wasn't there and hadn't called. The washer dinged to show it was finished and Naruto lifted up the lid. He felt like screaming in frustration at the state of his clothes. The slime was evil. It was then that his phone, which had been in his backpack in one of his saddlebags and thus spared, rang. He knew the ringtone to be his father's. He prayed that he had not gotten home yet.

"Dad," Naruto said trying to sound cheerful. He heard radio in the background that told him his father was still in his truck. He thanked god for small miracles.

"Hey," his father said sounding cheerful. "I was on my way home and thought that you deserve a respite from cooking. How does Chinese sound?" Naruto frowned. He wondered just what his father had been doing for food without him. He was constantly trying to get Naruto to order out. But that was the least of his worries at the moment. He walked into the living room, where he had turned Sasuke's TV on. He had been bored and tired of watching his clothes go round.

"Actually," Naruto said thinking on the fly. "I'm at a friend's house right now." It wasn't a lie, but he hadn't exactly been invited in. There was pause on the other end of the phone.

"And just how were you planning on getting home before dark?" his father asked in a severe tone. He wasn't angry yet but he could be. Naruto closed his eyes and hoped he would never have to do this again.

"I wasn't watching the time," Naruto said. The statement was true. The house was surprisingly lacking in the way of a clock. "But that's okay. They've invited me to stay over for the night. I'll be back home tomorrow morning." The lie he had just told stung in his mouth. He felt awful for what he had done.

"Oh," his father said dragging the word out. He was back to being cheerful again. He had been getting worried that Naruto wasn't hanging out with any of the other kids from school. "That's fine. Don't stay up too late. I'll see you later," his father said. Naruto gave his goodbye and bit his lips, eyes still closed.

"And who, prêt ell, gave you permission to spend the night in my house?" Naruto straightened in shock as he turned around to see a very feline Sasuke watching him. He hadn't heard the other at all.

* * *

Sasuke ran back to his house at a reasonable pace. The movement was lopping and second nature to him in this state. He had taken down the deer from earlier after a nice little bit of stalking. It had felt wonderful to take all his frustration out on the deer. He had eaten his fill and both he and his beast were content for the moment. There had been no more weirdness over Naruto. Maybe this was some kind of curious phase on the part of his beast? He walked to his back door and pulled on the rope he had tied to it just in case. The door opened soundlessly and he sauntered in before it closed. The second he was back in his kitchen the scent hit him and his beast was back to its unsettled self. Naruto was still here. He was in his house and from the sound of it, washing something in his washer. He crept down the hallway to catch the tail end of a conversation Naruto was having. Much to Sasuke's surprise the other was in nothing except a pair of blue boxers. He decided to be a little cruel as he announced his presence.

Naruto winced as he looked everywhere but at the large cat who looked so out of place in the normal living room. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this? His mind kept clicking empty as he stared at those eyes. He hadn't noticed it before but they were a deep crimson color. They seemed so very out of place in the face of a panther.

"You have red eyes," Naruto said in his panic and immediately wished he had kept his mouth shut. The panther blinked up at him and somehow managed to look bewildered. "Big cats should have yellow, chartreuse, or green eyes. But yours are red." Sasuke wondered if he had broken something in the other's head when he had snuck up on him like that. Why on earth was he going on about his eyes? He shook his head and leapt onto the couch, where he sprawled as he watched Naruto.

"Give me one good reason not to kick you out of my house," Sasuke said as he began to lick his paws. He had some blood on them still and he didn't want it to go to waste. Naruto watched him warily. He held no illusions as to what would happen if he went up against the other. Man vs. panther did not have very good outcomes. He swallowed as he caught sight of Sasuke's long sharp teeth.

"Well, um…," Naruto was not at his most eloquent at the moment. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was just Sasuke, the asshole he worked with in biology. He had no trouble telling him anything. "I know that you're a wer…thing. I could go around telling everyone in the town about it if you don't let me stay." Sasuke stopped licking his paws amused. He stood from the couch and walked over to Naruto whose eyes were still closed. He nuzzled the other's thigh like he had before, only he didn't fall over this time. Naruto did the best he could to ignore it.

"And I could just deny it. Who the hell would believe something like that?" Sasuke snorted as he butted his head against one of Naruto's hands. He had an itch there that he had been trying to reach all night. Naruto peeked down at the other as his fingertips felt the brush of soft fur. He understood what Sasuke wanted very well. He ran his fingers through the fur and did his darnedest to pretend that it was a large dog. It was rather hard to do, though. No dog had fur this soft and short.

"There are people in this town who already do," Naruto said as he thought about Sakura and the others he ate lunch with. Sasuke clipped off the soft purr he had begun. It had been too low for Naruto to hear, but the feeling of the other's hand in his fur felt so good. Sasuke sat on his haunches, the entire side of his body against Naruto's leg.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked. He was suddenly worried about his place in this town. Itachi and he had moved here because they wouldn't be known here. No one would no of the attack that sent both of them to the hospital or how their parents were found slaughtered in their own home. Here they had just been themselves. Naruto looked straight ahead as it hit him that he could potentially have the killer of all those people leaning against him.

"A few years ago, a bunch of people were killed by what the authorities thought was a wild animal. Apparently, one of the local farmers saw something else, something that he said was half-human and half-wolf," Naruto said as fear began making its way up his spine. If Sasuke really was this killer then he would have no qualms about killing Naruto to keep his secret. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier?

"I didn't know that," Sasuke said opening his eyes as his nose began to detect fear from the other. He could almost taste it, and, despite his having eaten, it woke the hunter part of him. "And, dumbass," Sasuke almost hissed as he tried to clamp down on his instincts, "It wasn't me or my brother. We're cats as you can clearly see." Naruto relaxed a little bit knowing that it wasn't the other. "I haven't noticed anything suggesting either another wer or something big enough to have done what you're talking about. So relax before I decide you're prey." Naruto stiffened at the other's words as he remembered something he had heard on one of the Shark Week specials on the Discovery Channel: some animals could detect your fear, and once they realized you were afraid you immediately went into the prey category.

"Right," Naruto said as he forced himself to relax. He closed his eyes again and began doing the yoga breaths his mom had taught him for when he was angry. "So, um, can I stay?" Naruto asked going back to the question at hand. Sasuke thought about his request for a moment. It couldn't hurt. It wasn't like Naruto was running from the place screaming or anything of the sort.

"Fine," Sasuke said as he walked away from Naruto to get back onto the couch. "You can stay as long as you promise to never tell anyone about this." Sasuke watched Naruto as the other opened his eyes. He seemed almost shocked for a second before a goofy grin lit up his face.

"Shit, yeah," Naruto said feeling a little bit of excitement over the situation. Now that it wasn't near as frightening as it was before his sense of adventure was coming into play. How many people could claim to have actually known something that should only exist in the minds of people like his mother? "I swear to never tell another living soul." Sasuke nodded, somewhat amused at the change in Naruto. One second he was battling down his fear the next he was as creepily cheerful as he was at school.

"Uh, Sasuke," Naruto said as the washer dinged for the eleventh time, "Do you how to get my clothes clean? I threw yours away because they were just rags, but I tried to wash mine and they won't come clean." Sasuke sighed and rested his head against the armrest of the couch. That helped to explain why Naruto was parading around his house in his underwear. He was so used to just having to throw away his clothes after a forced change he had never really given a thought to how you would clean them.

"The washer isn't working?" Sasuke asked and watched as Naruto nodded. "Then I haven't got a clue. I'll lend you something to wear for now though." Sasuke stood and jumped to the floor, before stretching. Naruto watched him and couldn't help but find the motion amusing. Sasuke started off to Itachi's room, Naruto trailing behind him. He would have to lend him his brother's clothes. They would fit him better through the shoulders than anything Sasuke owned.

* * *

An hour later found the two of them on the couch watching some movie that was on TV, a mostly empty box of pizza on the side table next to where Naruto was sitting. Sasuke had his head on Naruto's lap, eyes closed. The only indication that he was awake was the twitching that the end of his tail was doing. Naruto was absent-mindedly running his fingers through Sasuke's fur and enjoying the purr that the other was giving at the action. He was in a pair of black sweat pants that were really two sizes too big. Sasuke's brother must have been a bit taller than him.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto said more at ease feeling like Sasuke was a rather large kitty cat than a human who turned into a panther. Sasuke made a rumbling noise that was slightly different to that of his purr to let the other know that he was listening. It was odd to him how comfortable he felt in the other's presence. He supposed that it came from his beast. It clearly saw Naruto as being neither prey nor a threat. "Why are you still a panther? Can't you just change back? I mean, it's not even a full moon. Isn't that how this is supposed to work?" Naruto had been curious about this since he had started thinking about this in terms of one of his mother's stories. Sasuke let out a sigh.

"I can change back if I really have to, but it would be costly in terms of energy. I might not be able to move for several hours. I change back into a human after eight hours unless I choose to stay as my beast. I can call upon the change at any point in the lunar cycle; it's just that it is demanded of me during the full moon," Sasuke explained before letting out a yawn. He displayed each and every one of his teeth in the process and Naruto couldn't help but be a little nervous. Sasuke was clearly a predator. "I never did ask, but what were you doing here in the first place?"

"Uh," Naruto blinked at the change in subject, "You left your notes in class and I was going to bring them to you along with the ones you missed. We have the quiz on viruses Monday." Naruto gave a little nervous laugh. The excuse sounded a little lame to his own ears. He wasn't sure how Sakura and Ino had bought it. Sasuke found himself amused at the change in the other's scent. He wasn't afraid, but it was clear he was nervous about something.

"So then, you were just planning on doing a good deed for the person who annoys you the most at school? Tch," Sasuke said as he rolled over onto his back and displayed his stomach in the universal symbol for pet me. Naruto moved his hand down without thinking, rubbing the other's stomach. Sasuke closed his eyes in contentment until Naruto's hand hit one spot. He almost choked on his purr and his body's reaction. He was up an off the other in a flash. Naruto was left blinking at the other from the couch.

"Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked. As far as he knew animals liked it when you ran your nails down their stomachs. Sasuke sat on the floor facing away from Naruto and evening out his breathing.

"No," Sasuke said once he had himself back under control. His beast had been all to eager to show him just what the touching could lead to and it had made sure to use images he would understand. Naruto underneath him. Dominance assured. Naruto had no clue that his petting could've triggered it. "My fault. I'm going to bed." Sasuke stood and moved to make his way up the stairs to his room. Naruto was just bewildered by the whole thing and decided to shrug it off.

"Where am I supposed to sleep?" Naruto asked getting up to follow the other. It was too early to turn in for him really, but he wanted to know where he was supposed to crash. Sasuke stopped in the hallway before his door to think. He couldn't put him on the couch, the good manners his mother had taught him shied away from the idea. He was supposed to put him in a bed. He couldn't put him in Itachi's room because of the fact that he hadn't any sheets on the bed. That left his room. Grumbling a little in irritation he nudged open his door.

"You can sleep on the bed. I'll take the floor," Sasuke said as he grabbed a throw from the single chair in the room in his mouth. He pulled it down onto the floor in order to make himself a nest. Naruto took the blanket off the floor and away from the other. Sasuke gave him a glare for the action. He was going to sleep on that, thank you very much.

"I'm the uninvited guest," Naruto told him, "I'll sleep on the floor." Sasuke did his best to shrug with the body he had as he jumped onto the bed. He began to adjust the covers and such so that the bed would be comfortable.

"Suit your self," Sasuke said as he lay down in a ball, tail tucked under his chin to be used as a pillow. Naruto nodded as he put the blanket back on the floor.

"Will do," he said as he made to walk out of the room. He paused in front of the doorway. "Good night, Sasuke." Sasuke, who was already half asleep, perked one ear towards the words. He let out a brief purr in reply. Naruto smiled a little as he closed the door and went downstairs to enjoy the rest of his movie.

* * *

Reviews:

Shounen-Ai: Still interesting? I'm glad you like it.

Rhinoae: Mrow! Glad you're enjoying it.

Shadowphoenix143: Still excited about reading more? I'm afraid that I might be being too brief.

Stoic Sol: lol. I'm glad you liked the way that I described Sakura. I totally see her as one of those cheerleader types who try to hard to fit the media's image of what a girl should look like. I'm glad that you think my idea is original. Sometimes I worry that it may end up too close to someone else's.

Icyhiei: Don't worry over the similarities. I actually put in the bit about the biology experiment because of the fact I want everyone to understand at least a little bit about genetics for when we get further on in the story. Sasuke is sitting with Suigetsu and company at lunch and they aren't wer.

Kairi and Cloud: I'm glad you're not having trouble understanding what I write. There is, believe it or not, a lot of theory that goes into my fantasy stories. So, never hesitate to ask if something doesn't make sense to you. More likely than not, it was something that I had to edit out because it was too much theory and not enough story.

HatakeKasumi: I'm kind of amused that the first chapter has reminded some many of _Twilight_. I think that the first chapter is likely to be were the similarity ends.

Astoroche: I think that a majority of my fics come out of the fact that I read someone's brilliant idea and then weep at the execution of it. So many good ideas that fall so flat. sighI'm glad you think that my fic is better. It makes my day.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto wrinkled his nose as he began to reach consciousness. His back was sore from sleeping on the floor and he had what felt like a very heavy heat pad sprawled across his stomach. He opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling, determining in an almost absent-minded way that it was neither the ceiling in his house in LA or that of his father's house. Which brought him, rather groggily, to the question of just where he was. Memories began to filter through his consciousness like a torrent. He remembered Sasuke and what had happened since he had shown up at his door. The fact that he was still in Sasuke's house seemed to indicate that the last twelve hours was neither a dream nor a hallucination. All of that, however, did not explain the weight that was stretched across him. He definitely had not gone to sleep with it there. He would've remembered that. He brought his eyes down from the ceiling to look at himself and blinked. Sasuke was there, completely human, using Naruto's stomach as a pillow. That wasn't the problem, not really. The problem was the fact that Sasuke didn't have a stitch on and didn't even have the decency to be under a blanket. Thankfully, he was on his side so Naruto couldn't see very much. Not that he was really looking. Honest.

Naruto froze as he felt his body register things it had not before with the added visual stimulus. Naruto was shirtless, so he could feel each and every breath that Sasuke was taking across his skin. Sasuke had a hand placed next to his head that was twitching slightly in whatever dream it was he was having. Naruto's breathing caused Sasuke's hair, which was the same feeling and texture as the fur he had while a panther, to move over Naruto's skin like a feather. It didn't help that he had already acknowledged Sasuke as being good looking. It took seconds for Naruto to feel the beginnings of arousal stirring. Naruto silently began cursing everything he could think of. He couldn't move without waking Sasuke, and he needed to do something quick or when Sasuke woke up he would have a lot of explaining to do. Sasuke shifted and Naruto had to bite back a hiss as Sasuke slid lower on his stomach.

Sasuke went from asleep to awake in a matter of seconds. One second he had been having a nice dream about sleeping in the grass in the sun, the next he was wide awake. He twitched his nose as a smell that was familiar hit his nose. He was still a little close to panther than human at the moment, and so he was able to categorize it without thinking: Naruto. There was something different about his smell, however-something that had his panther purring along the inside of his head. Sasuke's eyes flew open as he was able to place the smell. He jerked his head off of Naruto and sat up staring at the other. Naruto was lying sprawled on the floor, looking up at him with a nervous smile. Sasuke vaguely remembered getting down off the bed and curling up next to the other when he had seemed cold last night. He had still been panther at that point.

"Eh, good morning?" Naruto tried. At the words, Sasuke seemed to remember the state that he normally ended up in the morning after the change. He felt red color his cheeks as he grabbed the throw that Naruto had been using and covered himself with it. Naruto decided that it was best if he went about ignoring the fact that Sasuke was undressed. In all honesty, it was likely better for both of them. "I'm going to go call my dad and see how he's working today," Naruto said casually. Sasuke was relieved enough at the fact that Naruto had made no comment on his state of dress, that he choose to ignore the fact that he had been woken up by the other's arousal. Sasuke nodded his head as Naruto headed out the door. He was quick about finding himself something to wear.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later found Naruto going through Sasuke's fridge as he waited for the other to get out of the shower. Naruto was horrified with what he found. There was nothing but meat in it. It wasn't just the basic selection that Naruto was used to either. There was bison and yak as well as some things that Naruto just knew were illegal. He hadn't even known there was a market out there for monkey meat. He was beyond disgusted at the fact that he was unable to find anything other than meat anywhere in the kitchen. How on earth was Sasuke still alive? Even his dad knew that you occasionally had to have vegetables and fruit.

"Do you normally go through your host's refrigerators? Or am I just special?" Sasuke asked as he walked into the kitchen. He was in a pair of jeans and nothing else, a towel draped over his shoulders to catch any water that decided to drip from his hair. Naruto turned around from where he had been staring into the fridge like it held all the secrets of the universe.

"What's with all the meat, Sasuke? Afraid that there is going to be some mass extinction of every animal on the planet but us?" Naruto taunted as he glued his eyes to the other's face. Why was it that he felt so much more comfortable in the other's presence when he was a big cat capable of killing him in heartbeat, but the second he was human he went back to the rude and almost hatefully banter? Both forms were Sasuke. What was the difference? Sasuke snorted at the other's attempted joke and made his way over to the fridge himself.

"I have particular dietary needs. I absorbed some of my beast's genetic qualities, and as such have a limited diet," Sasuke said as he looked for the least offending cut of meat he had. It was bad enough that Naruto was going to have to watch him eat; he didn't want him to get sick because of just what he was eating. Naruto raised an eyebrow as he decided he was going to have to settle for cold pizza for breakfast.

"Genetic qualities?" Naruto asked curious. "Like what? Superhuman strength? Speed? The ability to talk to animals?" Naruto hopped onto one of the white counters, a piece of pizza in his hand. Sasuke grabbed a T-bone steak and pulled out a skillet. He shook his head. Really, Naruto sounded like some kind of sci-fi nerd. Next thing he knew, Naruto was going to ask him if he was some kind of genetically engineered thing by the government. Ridiculous.

"I'm faster than a human should be," Sasuke said as he poured a small amount of olive oil into the pan, "but not overly so. I do have to watch my strength. I'm sure you heard about what I did to that guy who wouldn't leave me alone about his girlfriend. I wasn't paying attention when he decided to ambush me and I just reacted. I shattered his jaw and he lost most of his lower teeth." Sasuke seemed utterly unaffected by the information. Naruto on the other hand was left blinking in surprise. There had to be a tremendous amount of strength behind that punch. Sasuke put the steak into the pan carefully. "I also have an excellent sense of smell. It's fine tuned enough for me to detect the changes in scent that lying and such give off. And my hearing is a lot better than a human's. I can hear both lower and higher tones that you couldn't pick up."

"That's awesome," Naruto said as he finished the piece of pizza. He watched as Sasuke counted and flipped the steak. It made Naruto queasy to look at it. It was still oozing blood when Sasuke put it on his plate. Sasuke pretended not to notice the other's slightly green color as he picked the steak up and began to eat it. "However, that is not. How on earth do you get away with doing that in school?" Sasuke paused to use the back up his thumb to wipe a trail of blood off his chin.

"I don't eat with other people around," Sasuke explained. Naruto squinted as he thought about all the times he ate with other people around: breakfast and dinner with his dad, lunch with Sakura and company, and just general eating on the run.

"Man," Naruto said as he shook his head and hopped off the counter, "That must suck on dates." Sasuke stiffened at the other's words, half-eaten steak in one hand. He had never really thought about that. He was too concerned with keeping what he was a secret to worry about dating. That, and there was no one worth dating in the whole damn town.

"I wouldn't know," Sasuke said as he took another bite of his steak. "I've never been on a date." Naruto opened and closed his mouth a few times in shock. Was Sasuke being serious?

"Dude," Naruto said disbelief coating his voice. "Never? You've never been on a date? With the way that girls throw themselves at you, I would've thought that you had more dates than you could keep track of." Sasuke rolled his eyes as he put his dish in the sink, carefully trying to keep the color from showing in his cheeks. For all that he was a big bad wer panther; he was still a teenaged boy. And that meant he still had hormones, even if they didn't seem to like anyone in this one horse town.

"I've never found any of them attractive in the least," Sasuke said as he licked the excess blood off his fingers. Naruto made a face at his actions. That was really just nasty. Naruto tilted his head to the side as a thought hit him. He could feel his characteristic grin sliding over his face.

"Are you gay, Sasuke?" Naruto asked like it was the most normal thing in the world. And for him it was. Having his mother in showbiz meant that she knew quite a lot of people in the fashion world. The fashion world was of course like some kind of gay Mecca so he had been exposed to it at a young age. Growing up around it meant Naruto was far more open to the idea of experimenting when he hit puberty. That, of course, led to him discovering that he was an equal opportunity kind of guy. Sasuke, meanwhile, stared at Naruto in shock. The idea had never occurred to him. He had just assumed that he had not found the right girl. Though, it would certainly explain a lot of things; like how his beast acted towards Naruto.

"Dunno," Sasuke said with a shrug. "Let's get you a shirt and some proper pants so you can get home." Sasuke turned around and began to head to his brother's room. He was dropping the conversation as far as he was concerned. This was not something he wanted to talk about to Naruto. Hell, he didn't want to talk to anyone about it. He could feel his beast pacing back and forth in the place where it waited, a silent reminder for him to watch his emotions.

"How can you not know?" Naruto said; he was clearly going to do everything he could to get an answer. Naruto was curious by nature and not knowing something could drive him mad given half a chance. Sasuke let out a little noise of frustration at Naruto's persistence. He turned around so that Naruto almost ran smack into him.

"How about you, Naruto? Do you prefer guys?" Sasuke hissed at him, his beast picking up its pacing at the sudden surge of emotion. Naruto blinked at the change in Sasuke before grinning again.

"I bat for both teams," Naruto said like it was no big deal. Sasuke's anger turned into mortification. He had been caught naked, on the other (never mind that he had been a panther when he had decided to sleep on the floor). It had been embarrassing enough without knowing that Naruto had a…unique appreciation for what he saw. Naruto, on the other hand, was panicking as he watched the expressions run across Sasuke's face. He forgot that this was backwater Tennessee. You did not just go around admitting something like that in the middle of Hicksville. Especially to someone you don't really know. "Don't look at me like that," Naruto said feeling a little hurt at the other's reaction. "I'm totally not interested in you like that." The lie was out before Naruto could think. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at him.

"Don't lie," Sasuke hissed his anger coming back full force. "If there is one thing I cannot deal with it is a liar." Naruto gulped and looked away from Sasuke. He had royally screwed up. He did not need to have the ability to discern emotions via scent to know that Sasuke was very pissed.

"Fine," Naruto said through gritted teeth. "I find you very desirable." Naruto looked everywhere but at Sasuke. He was never supposed to be admitting this to anyone, let alone the actual person. But he would do whatever he could to try to fix what he had done wrong. Even if it meant that he was going to have to humiliate himself to do it. "I didn't want to tell you because you were obviously freaking out about the fact that I'm bi. I was trying to put you at ease. I just got some of your trust and I didn't want to loose it." The last bit was said very quietly. Sasuke stood there, glaring at the male, trying to find something wrong with what Naruto had said. He chose to block out the part about Naruto liking him. He could deal with that in a more private moment.

"I'll let it go for now," Sasuke said as he turned back around. He didn't see the way Naruto's posture almost instantly relaxed. "But don't ever lie to me. I won't lie to you. You already know my biggest secret, so what's the point?" Sasuke went into Itachi's room and pulled out a pair of jeans and a black long sleeved shirt.

"I think I can live with that," Naruto said as he caught the clothes tossed his way. "So, does this mean that I get a date?" Naruto was only half serious as he said it. Sasuke stiffened on his way out the door. He couldn't possibly be serious. Or could he? Sasuke debated with himself as he stood in the doorway. He had never been on a date before because he knew he could never be completely honest with whoever it was. But then again, saying yes to him would only make him seem desperate. Especially, since he still hadn't answered Naruto's question from earlier.

"In your dreams, dumbass," Sasuke said not looking at the other. Naruto pouted a little at Sasuke's words, but had figured he would say that. It wasn't like the two of them really knew anything about the other. Well, minus the fact that Sasuke turned into a panther once a month. "I want those clothes washed before you give them back," Sasuke added as he headed back to his own room. He needed to get dressed and see about getting his stuff together for his upcoming trip to the middle of nowhere. It was especially important now that his beast had shown an interest in Naruto, al be it benign.

"Fine, you jerk, but I expect compensation for my clothes. Those were Hurley prototypes," Naruto said as he walked out of Itachi's room and into the hallway. He swore he could hear Sasuke's snort through his door. Naruto grinned as he grabbed the rest of his stuff and headed out to his bike. He needed to get home.

* * *

Monday morning came with Naruto having to hurry to put the grocery bag with Sasuke's brother's clothes in it in his locker. He had nearly slept through his alarm. Sakura had somehow managed to talk his dad into letting his stay out after dark in order to help with float building. It seemed that he was getting suck doing it regardless of what he tried. He had gotten home around two-thirty and stayed up until four doing the homework he had forgotten over the weekend. Naruto made it through his first two classes on auto-pilot. He was just glad no one had bothered to call on him and had slept through his study hall. He grabbed the bag of clothes along with his lunch, figuring he might as well give it to Sasuke in the lunch room.

"What's that?" Sakura asked as she popped the top on her diet drink. Naruto was surprised she hadn't passed out from the lack of proper nutrients. Naruto shrugged as he sat at their table, eyes scanning the overcrowded lunch room for Sasuke.

"Something that I have to return to someone," Naruto said, frowning as he saw Sasuke's usual crowd, but no Sasuke. Where was he? Sakura looked very interested in what was in the bag, and why Naruto wouldn't tell her what it was.

"Who? Maybe I could help," Sakura offered as Ino and Choji made their way over to the table. Naruto was half tempted to go ask the people at Sasuke's table if they knew where he was. He really did not want to go back to the other's house.

"Not unless you can pull people out of your pocket," Naruto said and Sakura pouted. The comment had been a little mean. Sakura had been trying to help. Well, help and gain some much needed gossip.

"C'mon, Naruto," Sakura said trying her best to wheedle something out of him. "Is it a girl? You could tell me and I could help hook you up." Naruto looked at Sakura, vaguely noting the interested looks of Ino and Choji. He was going to have to give her something just so she would shut up.

"It's not a girl," Naruto told her with a sigh. "I borrowed some clothes from a friend because my got messed up and I'm trying to return them." Sakura nodded her mouth forming a little 'o'. Naruto decided that he was going to have to ask the people at Sasuke's table if they had seen him. He stood, and felt Sakura's eyes on him. This was going to get around so fast. Naruto wished that he had just left the clothes until after school. He could have told Sasuke to wait for him. Naruto approached Sasuke's table, where all talking ceased as he came up to it.

"Hi," Naruto said feeling decidedly awkward, "I was wondering if any of you had seen Sasuke?" There was a pause as they looked at one another for a minute, before seeming to elect the one who looked like he had been held back a couple times leader.

"What's it to you whether we've seen him or not, pretty boy?" he said with a sharky grin. His eyes were an odd hazel that came across as almost lavender and the smile on his face was mocking. Naruto just looked at him. He had dealt with his fair share of people who thought they were King Kong. The only girl in the group punched him on the arm. She had glasses and reminded him vaguely of Sakura.

"Stop being an ass, Suigetsu," she said offering Naruto a genuine smile. "Sasuke isn't here today. He always takes the full moon off. Something to do with hunting." Naruto felt like smacking himself. He had completely forgotten about tonight being the full moon. Naruto offered the girl a smile. "I'm Karin by the way," she told him. Ah, he knew why she reminded him of Sakura now. She flirted with anything that was male.

"Naruto. Thanks by the way," Naruto said as he went back to his table, its occupants, who now included Shikamaru, looking at him in shock.

"Oh my God," Ino said looking him over as though to make sure he didn't have any wounds. "Are you okay? None of them did anything to you, did they?" Naruto rolled his eyes. You would've thought he had crossed into some kind of contamination field with the way that they were acting.

"I'm fine," Naruto said as he sat back down and began eating his lunch. "I just went over to see if the guy I borrowed the clothes from was here today. He's not." Naruto cut off further questions by proceeding to stuff his mouth.

* * *

He watched the house, the smell of another wer catching his attention. He had only been passing through. This place had become far too hot for him to hunt in with that sharp eyed sheriff. The scent had led him to this house. He approached it slowly. He knew the greeting he was likely to get, but the scent had been vaguely familiar. He was relieved when he noted that the scents around the house were at least twenty hours old. It seemed he wasn't in. Perfect.

Carefully, he opened one of the windows. He knew better than to try the front door. He slid into the house silently. He inhaled the scent deeply, trying to place it. He wandered the house until he came to a picture in the hallway. It was of a family, a couple and two children. His eyes widen in recognition. One had reached out and a clawed finger traced the picture almost lovingly. Now he knew why the scent had been familiar. Ironic that the son, he wasn't sure which one at the moment, had become what had killed his parents. He licked his lips as he remembered that particular hunt. It was so much more pleasing than luring out hikers and campers.

A cruel smile twisted black lips, as an idea formed. It had been so long since his last hunt, and he had never hunted one of his kind before. It would be a completely new experience. Decision made, he opened the door to the room that had the freshest scent. It proved to be a bedroom, neither overly messy nor clean. He slid into the room and made his way to the bed. He needed to find the highest concentration of scent of his prey that he could. He leaned over the bed, nostrils flaring as he inhaled. He nearly sneezed at the strength of the scent, but it was not his prey's alone. There was another scent mingled there, one he could trace to the throw tangled in the bedding. He reached out and lifted the throw, inhaling and memorizing that smell too.

He put the throw back as he had found it and began making his way out of the house. He knew that the scent didn't belong to another wer, and for that reason it intrigued him. What was his prey doing with sleeping with something that carried the scent of another like that? Perhaps he should investigate and see if he could find the source of that scent. In order for him to hunt properly he needed more than a basic understanding of his prey. Every good hunter knew that. He shut the window behind him and disappeared into the surrounding woods. There was nothing left to indicate that he had been there.

* * *

The next day Sasuke arrived home exhausted. The full moon always took it out of him. His beast seemed to want to make the most of the time it had when it was in full control. He had slept in until noon before the drive home and he was still tired. He turned his key in the lock, a black duffel bag over his shoulder. He made it barely three steps into his house before he was put on alert. His beast was tired from its forays, but the scent that he had inhaled was like an electric shock. He had never smelled it before, but one thing he could make out was the fact that it was wer.

He dropped the duffel on the floor as he began to trace the route that the scent had taken. He followed it from his living room window to his room. He barely registered that the scent lingered stronger in front of a family photo as he opened the door. He scanned the room and found nothing out of place. Carefully, he walked into the room, following the scent trail to his bed. He leaned over his bed in order to figure out what this unknown had done to it. His eyes widened as he realized the only place that the invader had touched was the throw with Naruto's scent on it.

Panic flooded Sasuke's veins. What had possibly interested this wer in Naruto? All he could think of was what Naruto had told him about the murders. What if he had lead the wer to Naruto? Sasuke's beast was up and pacing as it caught his nervousness. Sasuke ran down the stairs and out the door, not bothering to lock it. He pulled out his keys and started his truck. Everyone in the town knew where the sheriff lived just in case. He drove down the road, barely bothering to obey the speed limit in his haste. He would not be the cause of something happening to Naruto. He pulled into Naruto's driveway barely ten minutes later. He noted the fact that Naruto's bike was the only vehicle in the driveway. He was ringing the door bell seconds later.

* * *

Naruto sang along with the radio as he went about cooking himself dinner. His dad was at work and wouldn't be home before midnight. That meant he could cook himself something half way decent without having to deal with his father's moping. He acted like it was some kind of travesty to have a meal that was more vegetables than meat. Naruto brought the spoon to his mouth in order to taste the sauce. He was having homemade spaghetti. He noted that the sauce needed just a little bit more sugar as the doorbell rang. Naruto wondered vaguely who was at his door. Sakura and Ino were out of town buying their homecoming dresses and Shikamaru was too lazy to bother to visit. Naruto opened the door to a rough looking Sasuke.

"Jesus, Sasuke," Naruto said as he noted how twitchy the other was. "You look like death." Sasuke barely managed to hide the relief he felt at having Naruto answer the door. He was even willing to let the comment about his appearance slide. He leaned in and inhaled, glad when he registered that nothing had changed about Naruto.

"Thank God," Sasuke said as Naruto backed up at the odd behavior. Naruto was starting to worry about the other's sanity. Sasuke took Naruto's backing up as an invitation to enter the house, which he did. "Have you noticed anything odd?" Sasuke said as he looked around the den he had been let into. The only identifiable scents he could find in the house were Naruto's and Minato's. This helped to further ease the anxiety he was feeling. Whoever it was had not been in Naruto's house.

"Besides you showing up out of the blue and acting like a crazy?" Naruto said with a snort as he closed the front door behind Sasuke. "No, nothing really. Sasuke, what's going on?" Naruto could feel a little bit of Sasuke's nervousness transferring over to him. Sasuke looked at him for a second before sighing.

"There's another wer here," Sasuke said as he rubbed his temples. Now that he was certain Naruto was okay, he was starting to regret coming. He had wanted to keep contact between the two down to biology class and this was no way to do that. Naruto stiffened at the words, his mind already on the attacks he had heard about. That hardly explained why Sasuke was at his house though.

"And this caused you to come rushing over to my house, why?" Naruto said as he made his way back to the kitchen. He needed to do something with his hands. Sasuke followed him, sneezing at the smell of the cooking meal. He still had his senses flung out in an attempt to find something out of the ordinary. Sasuke took a seat on the small kitchen table, watching Naruto's back as he put a little more sugar into his sauce.

"They were in my house, Naruto," Sasuke said frowning at the situation. "When I got back from hunting I could smell them. The scent was maybe ten, twelve hours old. I track it around the inside of my house and into my room. The only thing they touched in there was the throw you used on Friday." Sasuke decided it was best to leave off the bit about the throw making its way onto his own bed. He wasn't certain as to the why of that himself. All he knew was that it helped to calm down his beast when he was trying to sleep. Naruto froze in the process of stirring his sauce.

"Why would it be interested in me?" Naruto asked as he looked over his shoulder at Sasuke. Sasuke looked up so that his eyes met Naruto's.

"I don't know," Sasuke admitted. "All I know is that I had a bad feeling and ended up here." Sasuke stood breaking eye contact with Naruto. "It must be the fact that I'm worn out. Everything is clearly okay here. I'll be going." Sasuke made to leave the kitchen only to have Naruto catch his wrist. He looked behind him at Naruto, who was doing his best not to look at Sasuke. Sasuke froze.

"Stay," Naruto said his voice soft but picking up until it was almost normal as he spoke. "If there really is a wer wondering around I don't think either one of us should be alone. You can use the couch or my bed if you're tired." Naruto bit his lip. He knew he sounded kind of like a girl, but if there really was a wer out there looking for him, he would rather be labeled a chick than end up dead. Sasuke nodded and Naruto let go of his wrist.

"I'll take you up on that offer of a bed after I have a look around outside. I want to be sure," Sasuke said figuring that if they were going to use the guise of him being around in case of danger he might as well play the part. He walked around the house and smelt nothing other than some squirrels and raccoons. Satisfied, he moved his car so that sheriff Minato would have room to park when he came home. He would get up early and drive home to get his stuff. Naruto was eating by the time he was back in the house. He watched him eat for a couple seconds before clearing his throat to catch the other's attention. Naruto flailed from shock and nearly fell out of his chair. He had not heard Sasuke or the door at all.

"Damn it, bastard," Naruto said as he glared at the other, "don't sneak up on people. Especially with the things you've been telling me." Sasuke had to bite the corners of his lips so that his smirk wasn't visible. Naruto's reaction had been hilarious.

"I assure you that it was not my intention to startle you. If you would show me your room?" Sasuke asked stifling a yawn. His beast had gone back to sleep after finding out that Naruto was okay and he planned on following it. Naruto looked down at his half eaten spaghetti and stood. He would just have to deal with lukewarm spaghetti.

"C'mon," Naruto said as he showed Sasuke down the hall. He paused to point out the bathroom before opening his door. Naruto felt a little color rise in his cheeks. He had totally forgotten how much of a mess his room was. His bed was unmade, wash was piled in the corner, and he had pictures of his mother scattered on his desk. Sasuke made no comment on the state of the room. His own looked much the same sometimes. He walked in, his eyes locked on the orange and blue surf board hanging over Naruto's bed. "Sorry about the mess," Naruto said as he moved to take care of the photos first.

"Don't worry about it," Sasuke said. "I'm the one intruding this time." Naruto finished putting his pictures away and saw where Sasuke was looking. He felt a small smile make its way onto his face.

"I saved up for months for that board," Naruto said moving behind Sasuke. He ran his hand down it, feeling the wax finish. "There is no feeling in the world quite like surfing. For a few joyous minutes you can feel the power of the ocean under your feet and know that if you fall it will be totally unforgiving." Sasuke turned his head so that he could look at Naruto. His eyes were distant like he was some place else and Sasuke felt a pang of understanding. He knew what it was like to leave everything you knew behind because of a tragedy. He didn't say anything, though, when Naruto came back to the moment and looked at him. "Let me get you some new sheets."

"Don't bother," Sasuke said as he sat on the side of the bed and began to take off his shoes. He was already surrounded by the smell of Naruto and new sheets were hardly going to get rid of it. Naruto shrugged.

"Whatever," he said as he began to leave. "I'll wake you when my dad gets home if you want." Sasuke looked up at Naruto and thought about it. It would likely be best for him to be out of the house. He was already spending more time with Naruto than he was really comfortable with. Then there was the fact of how he was forced to eat. Sasuke nodded and Naruto couldn't help the feeling of disappointment. He knew that Sasuke felt something for him otherwise he would not have come rushing to his house at the first sign that something may not be right. He just wondered how long it would take before Sasuke owned up to it. They were friends and, if Naruto had any say, they would end up more.

* * *

Reviews:

Shadowphoenix143: I managed to instill laughter? Really? Where? I tried to make it clear that Sasuke is not the panther and the panther is not Sasuke. They are two different beings who share the same body. I actually did research (via Animal Planet) on the jaguar (which is what Sasuke is. He is what is known as a melantistic jaguar aka black panther). They are total loners and only get together to mate. Poor Sasuke.

Shounen-Ai: I love Sasuke the panther! He is a joy to write.

Forest of Tearful Temptation: Have no fear, the divergence shall continue. I have no intention of turning it into a rewrite of the Twilight Series.

Stoic Sol: I like the idea of wer going all the way into their animal forms. It helps to explain how they could hide among us. Though, I will admit that there is an in between form if the wer is skilled enough and its beast co-operates. That's the form creepy man from this chapter is in. I definitely think that at some point Naruto is going to have to buy Sasuke a large fuzzy ball like at the zoo. I can just picture him running down the hall with it. Yeah, Naruto is kind of excited and he knows a lot about sci-fi because that was what his mom wrote.

Cherryblossoms1987: Thanks for the compliment. I try to keep each chapter around one theme or event. I'm happy that you seem to like my story so much.

Icyhiei: Sasuke and his instincts are going to start having a lot of arguments. Like the article he read says: his beast will act odd until satisfactory action is taken on the part of its human. And, well, we saw were being an out right bully got it.

Rainbowness: Believe it or not hating the show can make perfect sense. I have a friend who flat out refuses to watch the show and only reads the manga. I have another who quit watching the show and still reads the fanfiction because she doesn't like the way that the story is going. I'm glad you like this, though.

Kairi and Cloud: I force myself to write lengthy chapters. I have a magic number of words (six thousand at the moment) and won't stop until I reach it. This leads to me spending a lot of time thinking about what could happen in a chapter and writing it in parts as opposed to one sitting. I'm glad you think the chapter length is good though. I always worry that it is too short.

Lifeblood92: I give you what happens next. Hehehehehe

HatakeKasumi: I love having Sasuke's purring as something he can't control. It's like a little happy Sasuke meter.

IceNight009: I'll prolly slow down a little on update speed just because of the number of characters I'm going to start juggling and the timeline within the fic. It's hard to tell whether things are moving too fast or too slow so I will constantly reread a chapter to see if it makes sense.

Kai: Sasuke is the size of a juvenile jaguar, meaning that if he is standing his shoulders are at Naruto's waist and his head at his belly button. Sasuke's beast was the only one really comfortable with the situation. Naruto was just doing his best to pretend that Sasuke was an overly large house cat. Itachi is likely not going to be very happy when he finds out that Naruto knows, but he really isn't going to be able to say anything considering that Kisame knows and he isn't wer. Itachi is a Siberian tiger, white with black stripes.

Chiya-chan: Glad you like it.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Please read my warnings, cause I don't want reviews from people saying OMG how could you do that?

Warnings: Character death. No one too major, but it's there. And I would just like to say that I neither support underage drinking nor use of fake IDs.

* * *

He sat in the tree outside Naruto's window, watching as Sasuke slept on his bed. It had amused him to no end that Sasuke (he had gathered his name by walking around town just out of sight), on finding out that he had been in his house, had gone straight to this human's home. He recognized the instinctual protection that had been in Sasuke's mannerisms. He had once had a mate; a gorgeous grizzly of a woman who had met his every need. The hunts they had gone on together had been bliss. Too bad that curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had hunted her. Her blood had tasted as sweet as she had been to him.

The knowledge of just what was going on between the two was a pleasant twist in his favor. He could see how easily that he could use Naruto as bait and a bit of entertainment. Especially since Naruto had yet to be claimed. Perhaps he would see to the boy's initiation into the world of predators. The idea was interesting. There was always the chance that he was innately prey and his beast would be such. The idea of a truly intelligent prey intrigued him. He would wait for the proper time, of course. He had to make sure that his initial prey would be properly wounded by it. A sick smile revealed teeth far too sharp for a human mouth. He blew the Uchiha a kiss as he slid out of the tree. He was hungry.

* * *

Naruto's father had not been happy to come home to find that Naruto had someone staying over, even if it was just until he had gotten off work. It was a school night and after dark. It was totally unacceptable. Which was the reason the two of them were having a heated argument in the den.

"Naruto, it's a school night! You said yourself that he had just gotten back from a hunting trip and didn't have any of his school things with him," Minato said the scowl looking oddly out of place on his face. Naruto looked much the same, his eyes flashing in a way that was very reminiscent of his mother.

"I stay up past midnight and you don't complain. He'll be fine," Naruto said with a huff. Minato glared, clearly unable to come up with an argument to that. He couldn't use the after dark argument because Sasuke wasn't his kid and he had no right to impose a curfew on him.

"What is he doing here, anyway? You just said that he showed up and you let him crash," Minato reminded Naruto. "Doesn't he have his own house for that?" Naruto narrowed his eyes as his mind struggled to find an excuse that sounded half way legit. He could hardly say that he had asked him to stay because he was afraid that a werewolf was after him.

"He was really tired, Dad," Naruto said wincing as yet another lie left his lips. Just what was this doing to him? He had never lied to either one of his parents about something before. It just felt so wrong. "He stopped by and I told him that I would rather have him crash here than behind the wheel." The excuse sounded lame to him, and he was frightened that his father was going to call him on it. Minato frowned, but couldn't say anything against Naruto considering that he would've done the same in the situation.

"Fine," it was clear that he was unhappy with the situation as he looked at Naruto. If he didn't know better he would've said that there was something off about what Naruto was telling him. "But I don't want him to drive home from here while it's so late. Just have him sleep here." Naruto nodded, doing what he could to keep his relief under wraps. His dad was suspicious as was.

"Alright," Naruto said as he made to go back down the hallway. He could hear his father's sigh and he was forced to ignore the pang of guilt in his chest. He opened the door and turned the light on in his room to find Sasuke sitting in the dark. Naruto looked at him for a second before closing the door. "How much did you hear?" Naruto asked as he began to shed his clothes. He normally slept in his boxers. He had worn the sweatpants because Sasuke had seemed nervous with him in just his boxers. But this was his turf.

"Enough," Sasuke said as he watched the other's movements. He could see all the muscles rippling underneath Naruto's skin as he moved and he wondered vaguely what it would feel like to run his hands over them. He closed his eyes as the thought registered and ignored the sleepy hiss of his beast. "I didn't mean to cause you trouble, Naruto." Naruto sighed and ran his hand through his hair, finished stripping. He was glad he had stuck with a nice black cotton pair of boxers for the day.

"Yeah, well, it is my fault. I asked you to stay," Naruto said making a face as he sat on the edge of his bed. Sasuke felt the weight on the bed and opened his eyes to find Naruto right next to him. "Hell, I was the one who went out of my way to return your damn notebook. I should've gone ahead with the others and helped build the homecoming monstrosities instead. Not that I managed to get out of that one long." Sasuke couldn't help the smirk as Naruto joked a little about the whole thing. It made him feel better that Naruto didn't see him as the source of this trouble. Even if Sasuke felt like he was.

* * *

The next day slid into the routine that school days were want to do. He even had answered one of his English teacher's trick questions right. He was feeling pretty good as he headed to lunch, Sakura chatting away next to him. He never really paid much attention to what she was saying, just making the appropriate noises in the correct places as she talked. God, he missed Hinata. He had thought she was too quiet before, but now he would give anything to have her back.

"So, right in the middle of picking out our dresses, it hit Ino and me," Sakura said as Naruto tuned in. "We didn't have dates. I mean, we can't go to homecoming without an escort of some kind. So, we decided that I was going to go with you and Ino was going to go with Shikamaru. So, pick up a rose colored corsage so it will match my dress." Naruto started to nod before his brain processed the words. Oh, hell no. He had never gone to such dances since his freshman year, and had no intention of starting now. He opened his mouth to protest, only to be cut off by Ino.

"So did you tell him?" Ino asked as Sakura nodded. "Good, because it's going to cost a fortune to rent a limo and we have to decide on diner reservations." Naruto was left gaping at the two. Didn't he get some kind of say in this?

"Um," Naruto started to be run over as Sakura started suggesting restaurants. Naruto could feel his temper flaring up. He was naturally relatively mellow like his mother, but once he got started it was a nightmare to behold. Naruto tried clearing his throat only to be ignored once again by the girls. His eyes narrowed as the two continued to ignore the black aura coming from him. "Ladies!" Naruto shouted getting not only their attention but the attention of the entire cafeteria. Both girls were looking at him with something akin to open mouthed shock. Naruto smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. "Now that I have your attention," Naruto said at much more normal volume, "I hate to be the barer of bad news, but I have no intention of going to homecoming. I went once and that was enough for me." He could almost countdown the amount of time it took for the words to register in Sakura's head.

"No going?" she repeated. "What do you mean you're not going?!" Sakura's voice had picked up so that it was almost the same volume as Naruto's earlier. "This is the first big social event of the season and I will not be going with anyone but you." Naruto raised an eyebrow, oddly finding that scary Sakura was a lot less scary once he had made up his mind about something.

"I guess you won't be going then," Naruto told her at point blank. Ino looked at him like he had sprouted another head. Sakura's green eyes sparkled dangerously in her rage. She always got the man she wanted. The only exception to this was Sasuke, but he wanted no one so she didn't take it too bad.

"Do this, Naruto, and you'll be committing social suicide. I'll see to it you never get a date and that no one will so much as acknowledge your presence," Sakura threatened her voice tight in her anger. Naruto tilted his head and wondered at what had made him like the girl in the first place. Studying her he decided it was the fact that he had been desperate to make friends when he first got to school.

"I highly doubt you have that kind of power, Sakura," Naruto said with a sigh. "But thanks for the warning." He gave her a bit of a mock salute as he left her. The second he left the entire cafeteria become abuzz with the news. Naruto's eyes sparkled with a bit of mirth as he made his way over to the table he was looking for. He loved being the center of attention. He paused just next to the table and waited for them to notice his presence. One by one each of them stopped eating to look up him. All except for the one he wanted to look up at him. Sasuke had his nose in the current literary piece he was reading for AP English. The entire table seemed to hold its breath as Sasuke moved over to the side offering the space next to him for Naruto. He took this as his cue to sit and did.

"Nice to see you got some sense, pretty boy," Suigetsu said with a smirk. "I wondered how long it would take the pink haired bitch to let you know your place in her world." Naruto blinked at him a slice of apple half way to his mouth. He had to bite back the automatic reaction that he had when other people said things about his friends. Sakura had made it clear she was no longer his friend. Oddly, it was Karin who reacted first. She made a fist and slammed it hard over Suigetsu's head. He let out a grunt of irritation as he looked at her. "What the hell, Karin? I know you were thinking it."

"That didn't mean that you had to say it," Karin said rolling her eyes. She offered Naruto a smile as she bit into her sandwich. There was quiet at the table for a couple of minutes, during which Suigetsu looked like he was going to explode but didn't want to risk more of Karin's wrath.

"So, I heard that you're not going to homecoming," Suigetsu said more to break the silence than anything else. Naruto nodded and laughed a little nervously.

"Yeah," he said watching Sasuke for any reaction as he said it. He could've sworn he saw Sasuke's eyes look up for second from behind his novel. "I think the entire school heard. I'm not one for dances. Too much drama and bad music." He made a face and Suigetsu laughed nodding. Karin tapped her lips with a finger, thinking.

"It's kind of tradition for us to do something off the wall that night," Karin said her eyes flicking to Sasuke before coming back to him. "Normally we just head to the lake and BS, but I'm feeling a little adventurous this year." Naruto raised an eyebrow wondering just what she had planned. He was itching to get out of this little town and do something fun.

"What do you have in mind?" Sasuke's voice almost caused Naruto to start. He had known that the other was there, but he had been so quiet. Sasuke had finally given up on getting any of his reading done here after he realized he had been reading the same sentence since Naruto and Sakura had started yelling. That and he knew that Karin sometimes had pretty decent ideas. Karin grinned, a sparkle coming into her eyes.

"You know that new club that opened up in Memphis? The one that was suppose to be an exact copy of that LA club?" Everyone except for Naruto nodded. He must've been out of it when that news came around. Either that or he just hadn't cared. "Well, what do you say we make a trip out there? I can fit everyone in the explorer." It took barely two minutes for them to get the affirmative from everyone, even the guy who hadn't spoken either time Naruto had been here. He couldn't wait to get a taste of city life back.

* * *

Saturday came lightning fast. Naruto had told his father that he was going to spend the night at Sasuke's since he wasn't going to homecoming. His father had done everything he could think of to get him to go to homecoming. He seemed to really disapprove of the way he was blowing the event off. Naruto had explained to him that he never went and would rather hang out at Sasuke's watching movies than go. In the end his father had just sighed and let him go. He was never very good at putting his foot down on anything. Naruto stuffed a duffel bag with clothing he thought that he was never going to use after leaving LA. He even made sure he had his fake ID in his wallet. He was heading over to Sasuke's early so that he could change. The last thing he needed was his dad to see him in club gear.

Naruto grinned as he rang Sasuke's bell. He was half tempted to just walk in. He was surprised as he heard the lock click before Sasuke opened the door. What Naruto saw had him wondering if he was going to survive the night. Sasuke was wearing a pair of black pants that looked like he had painted them on and a black mesh undershirt. A bright blue zip up, hoody vest stopped just above his belly button. He had rimmed his eyes in a shimmering black liner, making them stand out a bit more.

"Like something you see, dumbass?" Sasuke said with a smirk as Naruto was caught staring. Both Sasuke and his beast felt enormously pleased with themselves at his reaction, never mind the fact that he had spent the entire week wondering just what the hell he was doing. He had wanted to sort of stay away from Naruto, but it had gotten harder to do with the fact that he now sat at his lunch table, and everyone seemed to like him. Then there was the fact that his beast had calmed down tremendously over the past week. Naruto smirked and let just a little bit of his desire show in his face.

"Naturally," Naruto said as Sasuke moved to let him in. Now that he had been ousted with his liking of the other he felt that he could be more brazen. Sasuke closed the door and locked it. He was still a bit paranoid after he had caught the smell of the other wer. He hadn't had any indication that he was still in the area, but one could never be too careful. Naruto headed off to the bathroom, duffel bag in hand. Sasuke wondered just what he had in there.

Twenty minutes later, Naruto deemed himself ready to go. He had opted to go a little less punk than Sasuke had. He wore a pair of blue jeans that were nearly as tight as Sasuke's, a deep forest green shirt that showed a little glimpse of skin every time he moved, a pair of fingerless orange gloves finished it off. He had even decided to wear a silver hoop instead of his normal diamond stud for the evening. He slung the duffel over his shoulder as he made his way down the hall to the living room. Sasuke was sitting on the couch, watching TV and looking bored.

Sasuke looked up as he heard the other coming down the hall way and nearly choked on his spit. How could someone so covered manage to look so sexy? The second the thought was out he was shoving it down. He was not desperate enough that he was going to jump the only other person on the continent who knew his secret. He took a second to control himself before he spoke, unaware that Naruto had noticed his initial reaction.

"All ready then?" Sasuke said as he clicked the TV off. Naruto nodded one hand tightening on the duffel bag.

"Yeah," Naruto said doing his best not to start staring at Sasuke. "Where did you want me to put my stuff?" Sasuke thought about it for a moment. He had cleaned Itachi's room, and even put sheets on his bed knowing that Naruto was going to be staying at his house for the weekend. But, when asked where he wanted the blonde, he only came up with one place. Sighing in defeat he wondered why he had even bothered.

"Just put it in my room," Sasuke said and Naruto grinned. He walked up stairs whistling a happy tune. Sasuke rubbed his temples at the song he could hear much louder than it was. It was broken by the sound of a horn in his driveway. Naruto was down seconds later, and out the door with a whoop.

* * *

They stood in an over crowded parking lot, Karin using scotch tape to tape the address of their hotel and room number to Suigetsu. Naruto watched the scene amused. It appeared that they had done something like this before and Suigetsu had gotten so drunk he couldn't remember where he was supposed to end up and they had to bail him out of jail. Once Karin was satisfied that the little sticky note was not going to come off, they made their way to the line for the club. It was long enough that it almost wrapped around the side of the building. Naruto pouted.

"How the hell are we supposed to get in?" Naruto asked the others. Everyone refused to meet his eyes except for Sasuke. He seemed amused at Naruto.

"How do you think? We wait in line until it's our turn," Sasuke said wishing he had a jacket. It was getting into late fall and the weather had started getting cold. Naruto let out an indigent noise and ducked under the velvet rope. "Dumbass, what do you think you're doing?" Sasuke asked following. He heard Karin and the others give a groan as they too got out of line. Naruto paused in his march up to the bouncer and smiled. His grin was pure mischief.

"Why I'm getting us into the club," Naruto said innocently. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but followed nonetheless. Naruto paused a few feet away from the bouncer and tilted his head to the side. If anything his grin grew wider. "I should've fucking known," Naruto said under his breath further confusing everyone. He walked up to the bouncer, a powerfully built man with a beard and a cigarette. He looked immensely bored. He looked down at Naruto for a second, almost squinting.

"Naruto?" the bouncer asked almost seeming startled. His shock was nothing compared to the shock of everyone else in the group. How the hell did Naruto know the bouncer?

"Yo, Asuma," Naruto said hugging the man. "I should've figured that my pervy godfather would just move his business to where I was. It's so like him." The bouncer shook his head and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth.

"What can I say? He loves you kid," his eyes seemed to narrow as he took in the people behind Naruto. "What are you doing here anyway?" Naruto made to look as innocent as possible. Asuma just sighed and unhooked the rope that prevented entry into the club much to the displeasure of those waiting in line. "I don't know you and didn't see you," Asuma said not looking at him. Naruto just grinned and walked into the club, Sasuke and friends in tow.

"You know the owner of the club?" Karin asked in both shock and unrestrained glee. They hadn't even had to pay a cover charge for the night. Naruto sighed as they made their way towards the pulsing beat of the club. Sasuke was listening carefully, trying to understand what was going on.

"He's my godfather," Naruto yelled over the music. He grabbed Sasuke's wrist so that they wouldn't get lost in the crowd, Karin grabbing the other. "He owns a lot of them. He's only in town for the first few weeks, though." Naruto led them to a private booth that wasn't taken. It overlooked the dance floor and they had a great view of the DJ. Once they were inside it seemed to cut the outside noise by half. Unfortunately, the booth was small and the five of them had to cram inside, Naruto in the middle with Sasuke on one side and Karin on the other.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Suigetsu asked as he flagged down one of the scantily clad waitresses. Naruto sighed.

"I wasn't sure if he owned this one or not. For all I knew he was still in LA," Naruto said with a grin, "but the name was a dead giveaway. All his clubs are members of the Icha Icha Series." Indeed the club was called Icha Icha Paradise. The waitress was over a second later. Naruto wrinkled his nose at her attire. He had never thought his godfather's clubs were the most tasteful places on the planet. The waitress leaned forward on the table, giving everyone a clear view of her breasts. Naruto was going to have to have a word with his godfather, even if she had a nice rack.

"What can I getcha?" she asked popping a piece of gum in her mouth. Suigetsu was leering at her pretty hard and Naruto had to suppress a laugh.

"I'll take an orange sparkler," Naruto said winking at the waitress. She nodded and put it on her pad. She did not fail to note, however, the dark look the raven gave her at the wink.

"I'll take a watermelon julep," Karin told her with a smile. Suigetsu offered her a large grin as she looked at him.

"Saba Colada," he said as she almost seemed to move away from him. It looked like Suigetsu was not getting any from her tonight. She looked expectantly at Juugo. He looked at her blankly.

"He'll have water. He's our driver tonight," Karin offered when it was clear that Juugo was not going to speak up. The waitress nodded and waited for Sasuke to order. He was half tempted to join Juugo in the water bit. His system was unkind to alcohol. Perhaps he could get away with nursing one beer all night. It wasn't like anyone would know.

"Heineken," Sasuke said and the waitress was quick to scurry off to get their drinks. They barely had their drinks when Naruto was busy trying to shoo them out of the booth. Juugo rose followed by Karin, who Naruto grabbed and whispered something in her ear. The music was loud enough that Sasuke couldn't pick up what was said. He felt his mood grow darker and his panther let out a little warning growl as Karin laughed at whatever he said. She disappeared towards the bar instead of sitting back down, her drink in hand. It looked like Karin had found her prey for the night.

"I'm going to dance. Anyone care to join me?" Naruto asked. Suigetsu shook his head while Sasuke gave him a look that asked if he was serious. Juugo remained as apathetic as he was before. Naruto shrugged as he disappeared towards the dance floor. Sasuke took a tiny sip of his drink, wishing to god that he could just down the whole thing. Suigetsu let out a low whistle as he watched the dancing mass of bodies. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in inquiry and Suigetsu pointed.

"Look at him go," Suigetsu said as Sasuke followed where he pointed. He felt his eyes narrow. Naruto had been down there less than two minutes and he had already found two dancer partners, a red headed woman and her blonde friend. The dancing looked closer to sex with clothes on, and Sasuke was out of the booth before he registered taking the action. He nearly paused on the way down to the dance floor as he thought about what he was doing. He started moving again as he found a rational reason for his actions. Naruto had no clue where those two had been and he could pick anything up from them just from dancing. Sasuke maneuvered through the press of bodies, nearly pausing to rip the arm off whoever had dared to grab his ass. Naruto saw him when he was seconds away and leaned down to say something to the girls and it was all he could do not to kill them on the spot.

"Would you like to dance, Sasuke?" Naruto asked as he leaned in close. The music was so loud that Naruto had to practically be on top of him in order for Sasuke to hear him. Sasuke opened his mouth to make a reply, but was stopped as Naruto began to move. _Dear God_, was all Sasuke could think, wondering just where Naruto had learned to dance like that. Sasuke saw someone heading towards Naruto and was behind him before he could think. Sasuke was horrified with his actions. He had no fucking clue how to dance. "You know," Naruto said as he leaned his head back so that he could be heard, "this would be easier if you were in front. I could guide you."

That was how Sasuke found himself dancing with Naruto behind him, one of Naruto's hands twined in the front of his mesh shirt just above his pants, the other guiding his arms so that they were back behind Naruto's neck. His beast was purring so loud in his head he couldn't even hear the music and was completely relying on Naruto to keep the beat. Naruto moved his head so that they were cheek to cheek.

"Relax, Sasuke," Naruto said as he moved his now free hand so that it held a hip, one thumb hooked through a belt loop. Naruto was enjoying himself greatly. He had one very sexy Sasuke up against him moving in a purely primal way to the beat coming out of speakers. It hardly mattered to him that they were in a sea of bodies, and that anyone could see them, in this moment he could only think about Sasuke and the beat. He blinked as he felt a rumbling from where his hand was splayed on the other's stomach. "Are you purring?" Naruto asked letting a little of the amusement he was feeling enter his voice. Sasuke closed his eyes and decided he was just going to enjoy the moment.

"Shut up, Naruto," Sasuke hissed as the song shifted slower and Naruto turned him so that they were facing each other. Sasuke opened his mouth to ask him what he was doing when Naruto slid a thigh between both of his own. He widened his eyes at the feeling and was almost tempted to pull away. No, no, this could not be happening. He had promised himself. Sasuke could almost see his beast in the back of his mind, sprawled out and looking at him through eyes half lidded in contentment. It and his body had totally betrayed him and he was finding he didn't really care at the moment. Naruto still had a grip on his hip and was guiding him to move deliciously against that thigh. Sasuke knew for a fact that Naruto could feel him through his pants.

"Why, Sasuke, you really seem to be enjoying yourself for someone who was so against dancing," Naruto said huskily in his ear. Naruto barely ghosted his lips over the shell of Sasuke's ear, sending a shudder down the other. Naruto smirked until he saw one of the waitresses making her way towards them. He had Sasuke exactly where he wanted him and someone had to come along and interrupt. He pulled away from Sasuke who gave him a confused look for a second until he followed where Naruto was looking. Naruto never let go of his waist as he steered them through the crowd. Sasuke noted, with a pang of jealousy, how the crowd almost seemed to part for Naruto. He had no clue that this was do to the death glare Naruto was sending anyone who so much as looked at Sasuke. Once off the dance floor, the waitress began talking.

"You guys are with a woman right? Longish hair, glasses, wearing thigh high boots and a white zipper top and black skirt?" she asked nervously. Sasuke groaned as Naruto gave the woman a puzzled look.

"That sounds like Karin. Why?" Naruto asked not removing his hand whose fingers were threaded through one of Sasuke's back belt loops. If Sasuke wasn't objecting he wasn't going to let go. The woman pointed towards the bar. The two turned to follow to where she was pointing. Naruto snickered as he saw what Karin was doing. She had somehow gotten herself up on the bar and was attempting to dance lewdly. Sasuke watched in horror. There was a flash of light and he turned his head to look at Naruto who was holding his camera phone out. He had taken a picture. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him in question. He would be better off not remembering the event. "Blackmail material," Naruto said and Sasuke nodded. They were interrupted by the waitress.

"I think it would be best if you took your friend home," she prompted and Naruto sighed. He had just started to have fun. Naruto was forced to remove his hand from Sasuke so that they could make it to the bar where a crowd had gathered to cheer her on. Sasuke pushed to the forefront and wondered where Juugo and Suigetsu were. It was just like the two of them to disappear the moment something like this happened. Karin spotted both Sasuke and Naruto and stopped dancing for a second.

"Sasuke!" she said clearly drunk off her ass. Sasuke sighed as the crowd turned to regard him. He ignored them offering his hands to the girl, who looked at them confused.

"C'mon, Karin. It's time to go home," Sasuke said and she pouted. She didn't want to go home. She was having too much fun to go home. But Sasuke was being so nice. She wavered.

"Yeah," Naruto said drawing her attention to him. She smiled. She liked Naruto. He was nice to her. "Let's go home."

"Okay," Karin said taking Sasuke's hands and jumping off the counter. She landed a little off and stumbled, but both Sasuke and Naruto were there to right her. She blew kisses to her fans as they walked her towards the door. Once they were outside, Naruto used his phone to leave voice messages to both Juugo and Suigetsu to take taxis to the hotel. He was letting them pick up the tab, but would pay them back. Sasuke, on the other hand, was helping Karin keep her hair of her face as she vomited into a group of bushes near the SUV. Naruto shook his head and walked over to rub circles on her back until she stopped. She made a face at the left over vomit taste in her mouth.

"In the car," Naruto said as he helped Karin get into the back seat and get her belt on. Karin watched him, amused. Naruto closed her door and got in on the passenger side. He was well aware he was over the blood alcohol limit, even if he was not drunk. Sasuke started the car with the keys he had gotten from Karin before she started bringing back up her dinner. He had only managed a sip of his beer, and deemed himself worthy to drive them the twelve blocks to the hotel.

"You two are really cute together," Karin said out of nowhere. Naruto turned around to look at her as Sasuke glanced at her in the rearview mirror. "Sasuke's such an uptight bastard. He never showed interest in anyone till you. He just kind of put up with all of us." Naruto blinked at her statement and looked at Sasuke who was concentrating on driving-very hard. Naruto looked back at her to ask her what she meant, but she was out cold. Naruto sighed as they pulled into the hotel. Thank god they had already checked in.

* * *

He entered Naruto's house without fear. He knew that the boy was gone for what remained of the weekend and that his father wouldn't get home for another hour. He went through the house thoroughly. He wanted Sasuke broken to the point of insanity when he finally fully went after him, and if he took Naruto there along the way… Well, it would just hurt Sasuke all the more. He was purposeful about leaving his scent all over the house. He wanted Sasuke to know that he had done it. That he had done it because Naruto was attached to him. Calmly, he waited in the den, reclining in the chair that Minato frequented. He could be patient when it suited him.

His ears perked when he heard the door opening. Seconds later the lights were flipped on. There was a pause as Minato's mind caught up to the figure in his chair. What he saw shocked him to the core. It looked like it may have once been a man, but no longer. Black fur covered the body and ears were pointed at the top of his head. His eyes were a deep brilliant red, shocking in their quality of color. His finger tips were clawed, and his feet resembled that of a canine. He was watching him intently.

"Hello, Minato," it said in a voice that resembled a bark far more than a human's. It stood and made its way over to him, stopping just out of arms reach. "You have been a constant thorn in my side since you took over this position. And then there is the matter of your dear son." It smiled revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth. Minato gained back his courage at the mention of his son.

"You stay away from my son," he said narrowing his eyes at whatever the hell this thing was. It laughed then, the sound grating on his ears.

"I don't think you'll have any say in the matter. You are going to be quite dead," it said bringing its hand forward to sink its claws in Minato's side. Minato went for his fire arm with the other and managed wound it in the shoulder. It roared in pain as it brought its other hand across Minato's throat, blood spraying everywhere. The wer whined as it clenched its shoulder. It left the house knowing that this was going to be a delay in his plans and that no one would notice Minato was missing until his son came home that evening.

* * *

Reviews:

Icyhiei: The wer didn't turn Sasuke and Itachi, though it did kill their parents some time after. Lyancathropy is a virus that affects the genetic structure of it's victim. It mutates one of the genes that carry unneeded genetic inform and bonds to it. Since the data is different depending on the person it means that you get different animals in each mutation. Even if you were to have two panthers they would not be the same panther.

HatakeKasumi: He is all worried even though he doesn't want to admit it. He doesn't want to admit to anything going on between him and Naruto. Poor thing is going to have to.

Stoic Sol: I like Karin a little more than Sakura, but really think of them as interchangeable. Hince why she is so nice in this chapter.

Prima: Continuing.

Astoroche: All you need to do to picture Sasuke eating the raw meat is to find a clip from Yugioh (Oh, my God how said is the fact that this is my reference?) during battle city were Bakura proceeds to eat a steak. Turn the juice into blood and viola!

Lifeblood92: Here's you fix, my little junkie. I'm glad you think I'm awesome.

Jadej.j: I actually haven't even decided if Naruto will end up bitten. There is more than one way to catch wer, so to speak.

Naruke3176: Glad you like Sasuke as a panther and I did borrow a bit from Twilight in the beginning. It just fit.

IceNight009: I'm not sure if Kisame and Itachi will be a couple. I can see it happening in a sort of platonic way if that makes any sense.

Kairi and Cloud: He is totally in denial about Naruto. Sakura is the Naruto Universe's captain of the cheerleaders.

NaTsUKO-CHAn: English writers? Does that mean you speak a different language? Cause I'm a total foreign language geek. Thanks for the love.

Kai: No, the wer in the house did not bite Sasuke and Itachi. It killed their parents in a separate incident. And, alas, Juugo, Karin and Suigetsu are Sasuke's only friends besides Naruto. He wasn't really interested in making them to begin with. And Sasuke will grow. Once he reaches adult his head, when sitting, should be about level with Naruto's shoulders.

Shadowpheonix143: Of course he is health conscious! He grew up in one of the must health conscious states in the country. And I can't stand an idiot Naruto. He's mellow and enjoys goofing off to the extreme, but he is not stupid. Sasuke is going to try to drag his feet. Kisame and Itachi will be along in the next two or three chapters I think. Once they know what's up they'll be on a plane PDQ.

Hunni C A K E: Your review was long enough to make me happy. I'll take one word reviews. I'm glad you think it's original. The wer's identity will be coming along shortly.


	5. Chapter 5

a/n: Okay, my next update may be a while. there is a lovely hurricane headed straight for my house and right after it I have to move back into the dorm. Do not lament. I will be working on this.

Naruto cursed his genetic predisposition to constantly be forgetting things. For instance, he was now standing in the middle of Sasuke's bathroom wearing only a towel wondering how he was going to get his duffel with his clothes in it. They had driven back to town early in the day and Sasuke had offered him a place to crash for a few hours. A few hours had turned into five, and he knew that he really should be getting home. His father was likely worried about him- that and he was damn hungry. He refused to touch anything that came out of Sasuke's refrigerator. None of this was solving his current problem, though. Naruto puffed out his cheeks in annoyance. There was no way around it; he was going to have to go fetch it himself.

He held the towel secure as he made his way down the second story hallway and into Sasuke's room. He had crashed on Sasuke's floor again, only this time it seemed Sasuke had gotten out a sleeping bag so it was somewhat more comfortable. He found his duffel bag shoved into a corner and he put it on the bed to pull out his clothes. It had gotten chilly seeing as they were already into early fall. Naruto's birthday was in nine days and he would be eighteen. Smiling at the thought of what shipping was going to cost Kiba for his present he put his clothes on. It was nothing too fancy, a pair of black jeans and red long sleeved top with a fiery sunset on the back. His mother had said that it reminded her of him.

He closed the door behind him, using the towel to dry his hair, one hand stealing into his pocket so he could look at his phone. He had turned it off last night knowing that he would never be able to hear it over the noise in the club. He frowned as he looked at the giant list of missed calls. Oddly, none of them belonged to his father. There was a couple early in the morning from the station, which was odd. His father never used the station phone to get in contact with him. For one thing, he could never remember Nauto's phone number. The rest were from his grandmother, who lived in the next town over. What was she calling him for? Just as he was moving to call her back he heard a crash downstairs. Remembering that Sasuke was likely down there and that he had someone break into his house recently, he almost ran down the stairs and into the living room. Sasuke stood there, eyes huge as he watched the TV. There were the remains of glass of water at his feet, the water drenching the hardwood floor.

"Sasuke?" Naruto questioned moving carefully around the glass. He put his towel on the floor and let it soak up some of the water. "What's going on?" Sasuke almost seemed to come back to life as Naruto addressed him.

Sasuke had been unable to believe his own ears. He had gotten himself a glass of water as he waited for Naruto to get done with his shower so that he could take his. Thinking that Naruto would be a while, he had turned the TV on to catch the news. He watched it mainly for the weather report, but what he saw and heard on the screen had shocked him. Sasuke looked at Naruto who was cleaning the glass at his feet up and felt his heart crack. Even his beast was acting forlorn. Sasuke kneeled so that he was level with Naruto and reached out a hand to stop Naruto from cleaning.

"Naruto," Sasuke said nearly choking on the words that were stuck in his throat. He had been through this. He had never thought that he was going to have to tell someone else that they were like him. Not in this way. "Have you been listening to the news?" Naruto shook his head, clearly bewildered at the way Sasuke was acting. It was almost like he thought that Naruto was going to break any second. The change was eerie to say the least. Sasuke let out a breath. He had half hoped that the news would do the telling for him. "Naruto, your father's dead." Naruto stilled as the words Sasuke spoke caught up to him. What? Was this some idea of a sick joke on Sasuke's part? It was almost like a switch had been flipped and he could suddenly hear and comprehend the words from the reporter on the television.

"This is Cynthia Ickes, with channel 12 news, reporting live from Sheriff Uzumaki's home. He was found dead around noon today when he failed to report in for work. So far the police aren't saying anything about the death of one of their own. All we know is that the whereabouts of his son are unknown…" the reporter continued on, her voice like so many knives in Naruto's heart. Even as he heard and processed the words, his heart refused to accept them. There was no way his father was dead. He was up and out the door before Sasuke had time to react. Sasuke barely made it to the doorway in time to see Naruto speeding down the road on his bike, not even bothering with his helmet. Shit.

* * *

Naruto hit the driveway ten minutes later. He didn't care that he had to weave between two very pissed off cops or that he was making one hell of a scene on live TV. His only thought was that he had to confirm this for himself. He put the kickstand down and rushed into the door, ignoring the angry shouts that were following him. The second he opened the door the smell of dried blood nearly sent him to his knees. It was all over the small tile entryway and the wall next to it. There were little yellow triangles with numbers on them on the carpet to show were blood had spattered. Naruto swallowed down the bile that was quickly rising up his throat. There was no body. No body meant that his father might still be alive, right?

He turned around to come face to face with a man slightly taller than himself. He had white hair that looked like the style he was going for was just stuck finger in an electric socket. His eyes were a mismatched pair; one dark like Sasuke's, the other a different shade of blue than Naruto's own. A surgical mask covered the lower half of his face. He wore a dark business suit, but Naruto recognized the air around him instantly. He had grown up around enough cops to know one when he met one. Without thinking, Naruto reached out and grabbed the lapels of the other's jacket.

"Where is he? Where is he? God damnit! WHERE IS HE?" Naruto punctuated each exclamation with a shake of the man. The man only seemed to look at Naruto in pity and Naruto found himself getting angrier than he already was. He let go with one hand and drew it back, a punch aiming for the other's face. "You think this is fucking funny? Where the hell is he?!" At the lack of response Naruto moved to let the other man have it, but found his hand stopped by an iron grip. Naruto moved only his eyes to the side to see Sasuke standing there, hand around his wrist. Naruto struggled to get Sasuke to let go, already knowing it was a lost cause, but not registering it in his state.

"That's enough, Naruto," Sasuke said fighting hard to keep his face impassive. Naruto did not need another person looking at him with pity or even understanding. Not yet. Right now he needed someone to punch some sense into him and Sasuke would gladly do it if he needed to. Naruto snarled as he continued to uselessly jerk his arm. The detective watched the exchange with interest. Sasuke had to fight the urge to snarl back at Naruto like his beast was doing.

"Fuck you," Naruto said as he stopped struggling and just opted to glare at Sasuke. Once Sasuke felt reasonably sure that Naruto was not going to attack the detective once he let go of his wrist, Sasuke did so. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the detective in question, clearly telling him to get on with it before Naruto flipped out again. He cleared his throat as the scent of something in the area caught his attention. He went stiff as a board and paled, though it was hard to tell with his complexion. Even his beast stopped all movement as the horror of just what had happened sunk in. Oh, God. Oh, God no.

"I'm detective Kakashi Hatake," the detective said now that Naruto was much calmer. He had been perfectly content to let the kid beat the shit out of him, to let the beast of anger be released. Perhaps then he wouldn't take the path that most followed after the murder of a loved one. He had moved to the area to get away from the death that seemed to linger in cities. "I know this may come as a shock, but, Naruto, your father is dead." Naruto shook his head in denial. He hadn't seen a body.

"Then where's the body," Naruto demanded defiantly. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Sasuke had wondered off a ways. He still had a clear line of sight to Naruto and the cop. He didn't want to chance that _it_ was still hiding in the area waiting for Naruto. Not that he had any intention of telling Naruto. He was just getting comfortable with the idea of having Naruto around, be it romantic or otherwise, and he didn't want the rejection he knew would happen the moment he told Naruto that it was partially Sasuke's fault his father was soon to be six feet under.

"The body is at the morgue," Kakashi said and Naruto held his tongue as he tried to think of some way to defy that one. It had been several hours since the body was discovered it made sense that the ME had come to collect it. "Which is down at the station as you know. So why don't we head down there? You can even bring that friend of yours." Sasuke gave the detective a look as he caught the words. He knew where this was going. The sheriff had been found dead and the only person who was supposed to be there was missing for several hours, only to suddenly show up at the scene and demand to see his father. It was a good thing that the hotel had been in Naruto's name. After all, it wasn't like Sasuke could just tell them that some wer had shown up and killed him. They would never believe him. Naruto nodded and moved to follow the detective towards his unmarked SUV.

"Naruto," Sasuke said deciding he better tell the conclusions he had drawn about why they were being taken to the station to him, "You're not wearing any shoes." Naruto looked down at his feet, which were filthy from the ride over and then walking around. He blushed a little. In his haste to get out of Sasuke's house he had forgotten the need for footwear. Naruto laughed a little nervously and put his hand behind his head.

"Um, can I go get some shoes on?" Naruto asked and Kakashi nodded.

"Go around the back. I don't want you to contaminate my crime scene any more than you already have," Kakashi said sounding oddly cheerful. Naruto nodded as he took the dirt path around to the back of the house, Sasuke in tow. Sasuke waited until they were out of sight to begin explaining things to Naruto. Naruto frowned the more he heard.

"But why would I kill dad?" Naruto asked in bewilderment. He could understand the fact that he might be under suspicion but the fact that someone might actually believe it was ludicrous.

"People do it all the time, Naruto," Sasuke said without thinking. Naruto, who wasn't thinking the most rationally himself, saw Sasuke's comment as him agreeing with the fact that he had something to do with the murder. He paused and turned to look at Sasuke.

"I'm not one of those people," his voice was thick with anger. Sasuke had never seen Naruto angry like this before. His eyes, which were normally filled with amusement and joy, glittered with the promise of pain. It looked so wrong on him. Naruto was meant to be happy. Sasuke moved so that their foreheads were touching, despite the fact that Naruto flinched a little at the contact, clearly still angry with him.

"I know that," Sasuke told him softly, "But they don't. Let them do their jobs, Naruto. I just didn't want you to walk into a trap." Naruto closed his eyes and made an effort to calm down. He was under a lot of stress with the supposed death of his father, and it had him snapping at someone who was only trying to help. Once he felt calmer, he opened his eyes and moved away from the other. He started back down the path. He needed to prove that his father was not dead.

* * *

His eyes flickered around the shed he was hiding in, mind clouded with a combination of pain and the fact that he had lost so much blood. The wound in his shoulder should've healed by now. The fact that it wasn't meant one thing: silver. It was likely only a small trace, otherwise he would've been dead from the allergic reaction his body was having to it. He needed to get the bullet out. The long it festered in the wound the greater the chance that infection could take. His eyes fell on a pair of pliers hanging on one of the walls. They were rusted and looked more likely to break than do anything useful, but he was desperate.

As he gripped the pliers, poised over the wound in his shoulder, he wondered how the sheriff had gotten silver bullets of any kind. Life was boring in the town and even the nearby ones. There would be little chance that he would have need of changing his bullets from the ones issued by the station. That meant that someone in the station had replaced the bullets. There was someone who had an idea of just what had happened here a few years ago and was trying to help his fellows.

He growled as he was forced to move the pliers around, searching. Panting at the effort of keeping his whimpers in, he managed to grip the bullet. With a wet sliding sound and pop he pulled the bullet from his flesh. A fresh flow of blood followed, and he turned his head so that he could lick the wound. His thoughts strayed to who was supplying the police department, unknowingly, with silver bullets. Was it a hunter, attracted by his earlier exploits? Or perhaps it was a nut job, letting his paranoia get the better of him. It hardly mattered to him. No one was interfering with his hunt. They were just going to become like the others who had crossed his path: dead.

* * *

Naruto's grandmother was at the police station when they got there. She looked to be in her mid thirties, something Sasuke knew was mathematically impossible, with blonde hair put into pigtails and soft caramel colored eyes. The first thing she had done once Naruto had gotten out of the car was attempt to suffocate him using her rather large breasts. Sasuke was forced to stand next to the SUV uncomfortably, because he wasn't sure whether he should be trying to save Naruto or not. His beast was voting for the saving end of things. Once she had released Naruto she walloped him on the back of head.

"Ah, Granny, what the hell was that for?" Naruto asked as he rubbed his head. Sasuke had moved so that he was right next to Naruto in order to redirect any more attempts at hurting him. His beast was screaming bloody murder and using his guts as a floor mat. The older woman just glared at Naruto.

"Where the hell have you been, brat? I've been calling you all day! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Hell, I had Jiraya come all the way from Memphis to help me look for you," she said with a sigh. Naruto had the good grace to look ashamed. He hadn't thought about how worried the rest of his family might be. He looked down at his shoes, hiding behind the length of his bangs.

"I'm sorry," he said softly before looking up at her, hope shining in his eyes. "Is it true, Granny? Is dad dead?" His voice almost shook with the words. The need to comfort Naruto from what his grandmother was bout to say was instinctual; he found himself grabbing and holding Naruto's hand without thinking. Tsunade looked at Naruto, her eyes filled not with pity or sympathy, but the understanding of shared grief.

"I just confirmed the body, Naruto," Tsunade told him, raising her hand to put it on his shoulder. Naruto glared at her and closed his eyes, hand tightening around Sasuke's. He knew that Tsunade would never lie to him. It had gotten her into trouble with his mother during his visits. She had been rudely blunt about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, and made him burst into tears. The knowledge that his father was dead was like having the world dropped on you. His knees buckled as he hit the pavement, taking Sasuke with him. This was worse than when his mother had died. The chemo and radiation therapy had given them both a chance to adjust to the idea that she might not make it. Naruto had made peace with the fact his mother was going to die before it had happened. But his father…He was supposed to be there. He was supposed to be sitting in the stands when Naruto graduated. He was supposed to be badgering him about going to college.

Sasuke felt panic as he watched pure sorrow and pain envelope Naruto's features. He reached out without thinking, the same way his brother had in that first year after the murder of their parents, pulling Naruto to his chest. He didn't care that they were on the rough asphalt of a parking lot with Naruto's grandmother and a detective watching. All he could think of was that he had to do something to make Naruto stop. As he felt the wetness that signaled tears begin to soak his shirt, it was like someone had lit a spark in his chest. He found himself getting angrier and angrier to the point that his beast was worked into a frenzy and he was holding his form out of sheer will. He wasn't angry at the blonde in his arms. No, he was angry at the beast that had dared to harm Naruto. Going after Sasuke he could understand, he was wer and he knew that they often fought over territories. But to go after Naruto…

Naruto felt someone wrap their arms around him and he allowed them to do so. He didn't bother to open his eyes, but knew by the smell of soap that it was Sasuke. He found his hands fisting in Sasuke's shirt as the tears started. He let them come without thought. He would never see his father again, he was gone. He felt another hand begin to rub circles on his back and knew that it was his grandmother. God, things were bad for him, but she had lost her only son. Naruto took a deep breath knowing that he was going to have to pull it together. If she could do it, so could he. Slowly, he moved away from Sasuke, opening eyes that had started to turn red from the tears. He wiped them away as Tsunade handed him a tissue from the box Kakashi had found. His eyes met Sasuke's and without saying anything he told him that he was thankful for what he had done. He was aware of how hard it was for him to show any kind of concern for the other's well-being.

"Alright, let's get this shit over with," Naruto said standing and doing his best to act like nothing had happened. Life went on whether you wanted it to or not.

* * *

The funeral for Minato Uzumaki was held the next day at noon. He was buried next to his wife, who had wanted to return home after she died, in the local cemetery. The weather was bitingly cold and rain had threatened all day. The service was small and short. Naruto's father had never been one for dragging things out. The headstones were flat pieces of marble with nothing but names, dates, and the words loving parents written on them. Naruto kneeled in the freshly turned earth, not caring that he was getting his one good suit dirty, and traced the words over and over with a finger. The engraving was fresh and felt sharp under his fingertips. Naruto closed his eyes as he prepared to say good-bye to another parent.

Not far away stood three figures, watching Naruto as he kneeled in front of the graves, all dressed in black. One was an older gentleman with a long face and a wart on his face. His hair was long and white. He was frowning as he watched Naruto. Next to him were Tsunade and Sasuke. They were all quiet as they waited for Naruto to finish what he was doing. Minutes passed before Naruto stood and walked over to where they were.

"Are you finished?" Tsunade asked. Naruto nodded, his eyes red rimmed from crying himself to sleep. She had listened to him in the early hours of the morning, stifling her own sobs into her pillow. Sasuke had been unhappy with the fact that Naruto was staying out of town and away from him. It had given him time to track the wer, but Sasuke had only managed to track him to a shed on one of the farmers' property. It had gone cold there, and Sasuke couldn't help feeling that it was deliberate. He had found blood and a bullet though. It seemed that the wer had not gotten away scot free. "Let's go home then, brat," Tsunade said making to head towards were her Buick was parked.

"About that," Naruto started and everyone paused in motion to look at him. "I want to stay here. Well, not the cemetery, but back at the house." Everyone gave him a slow blink. Surely he wasn't serious.

"What are you talking about? You can't possibly want to stay in the house where…where…," Tsunade couldn't even bring herself to say it. Her pain was still too raw. Naruto looked at her and she recognized the determination she found there. It was something his father had given him.

"He was murdered." Naruto said wincing as the words left his own mouth. "I fully intend to. I'm not going to live in fear of some nameless person." He said it voice full of finality. Sasuke could almost feel a smirk making its way onto his face. It was so like Naruto. Tsunade looked outraged while the man to her side snorted.

"You can't stay at that house, Naruto," he said like he was talking to an idiot. Sasuke glared. He was the only one allowed to talk to Naruto like that. "It's a crime scene." Naruto blinked at the information, though, truly he should've thought about that. Tsunade nodded at the old man.

"Thanks, Jiraya. C'mon brat," Tsunade said once more starting towards the car.

"But I don't want to go home with you," Naruto said stubbornly. Tsunade rolled her eyes towards the dark grey of the sky as though asking for strength.

"Then where will you stay, Naruto? Do you have some property we don't know about?" Tsunade asked. Naruto opened his mouth to retort, though it was Sasuke who beat him to the punch.

"He can stay with me," Sasuke said before he even realized he had thought the sentence. All of them were momentarily stunned into silence as Sasuke's words sunk in. A smile started to slowly creep across Naruto's face as he realized what that meant.

"You mean it, Sasuke?"Naruto asked sounding more like a little kid that was being offered candy than a grieving teenager. Sasuke nodded his head and Naruto hugged him. It was brief, and had Sasuke stiffening like a cat that had randomly been touched. He wanted some warning, please and thank you.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Sasuke's house, the answering machine had picked up on a long distance call. There was a pause as the person on the other line seemed to debate on speaking or not. Finally, it seemed that he was going to speak.

"Little brother," the voice was deep and rich, an older version of Sasuke's, "We've been made aware of what has happened. We will be returning home. Don't do anything foolish, though it seems you already have. Letting people get pictures of you with that boy was not smart. Until I see you." The machine clicked off and a little red blinking light came on.

* * *

Reviews:

Astoroche: Poor Naruto is in a bit of a depression. But have no fear, Itachi and Kisame will fix that problem. They should both be here in the next chapter.

Rhionae: lol. I don't think there will be more purring Sasuke for the next couple of chapters, but we'll see.

Icyhiei: Sasuke is going to end up very protective. The above is just the tip of the iceberg. Wait until Itachi gets back. Oh, the nastiness that will ensue.

ooxshinobixoo: Alas! For the world hast lost another get adventurer.

HatakeKasumi: I wonder at what about him annoyed you…And Naruto is likely going to get a kick in the ass to get rid of the sadness. He's too happy to stay sad for too long.

Lifeblood92: Well, my little junkie, I shall provide you with more as it becomes available. Sasuke and Naruto will, I quote, "get it on off the dance floor." I do believe this next chapter is going to be a bit of a wake up call to the two of them. Itachi is going to be very direct in his "show and tell".

Shadowphoenix143: Naruto would've looked good as a punk, but it doesn't fit his personality well enough here. He's much more of a surfer, though he is growing out of it a little. Sakura is very used to getting her way. Give her some time and she might improve. Sasuke had no intention of letting Naruto too far out of his sights. He only let Tsunade have him overnight so he could track the wer.

Jadej.j: Naruto actually doesn't have a history with the other wer. It's all Sasuke and Itachi and Kisame. As for the biting of Naruto: in order for him to become wer after a bite, Sasuke would have to be at least half way through the change. But that doesn't mean he won't ever bite him.

IceNight009: Indeed they are going to be roomies. Glad to see that someone other than the reviewers read through the replies. I'm still trying to scale Itachi without making him into giant tiger of doom.

Stoic Sol: I actually like Karin up until the latest Naruto chapter. It had me raising my eyebrows and going wtf? But I'm not going to let that color my view of this Karin. And you are wrong about who killed Minato.

Kai: I went to homecoming one year and was bored, so my date and I left and his car broke down on the mainstreet! Anyway, I would classify our lovely wer as a sociopath. That means that he knows and understands society's rules, but doesn't see them as applying to him.

NaTsUKO-CHAn: I don't think I'd call this story gruesome, though there will be a certain amount of blood and such. It is part of the reason that this is rated M (I know you just thought that it was for any lemons that may pop up. We all do.).

Kabuto-pants: Let me just say that your name let to a bout of giggles. The good kind. I hope that you aren't too distracted by just who the wer is. I'm glad that you think my story original. I worry about my ideas some times.

Kairi and Cloud: I'm glad that you liked it. I hope that you enjoy this one.

Naruke3176: The crazy is interested in Sasuke and those who associate with him. He wants to use everyone around Sasuke against him, and is doing pretty good so far.

Moola Deena: I'm not aiming for Naruto to end up wer, though that decision is still up in the air. I do, however, agree that he tends to be the supernatural one largely due to the Kyuubi.


	6. Chapter 6

He knew that the playing field was changing. It was instinctual, the way that a pack of wolves knew the second that another had crossed into their territory. That was how he knew to be sitting in the tree overlooking the house he knew belonged to his prey. He had been watching it for two days, learning the habits of those that lived there. It had pleased him immensely that the blonde one had moved in with his prey. It made it easier to watch the two of them. The more time he spent around the blonde's scent the more he resolved to acquaint him with whatever his inner beast was. The way that his prey acted around him made it clear he was attempting to protect the other. A cruel smile showed off his teeth as he thought of how delicious his prey's flesh would taste tempered with the knowledge of his failure.

* * *

The red SUV crunched through the gravel of the road and onto the drive way, causing him to slink back. He knew what this was: reinforcements. So it seemed that his prey had resources he had no anticipated. He went deathly still as he raised his nose into the wind to catch the scents of the two who exited the vehicle. His pupils dilated as the scents registered. One was human. The other was wer, but not the juvenile wer like that of his prey. This was a matured wer, one who was aware of his beast and its secrets. Danger flowed off him in waves and sent an excited tingle down the watcher's spine. He licked his lips. This hunt had become so much more. He would bring down these other wer and bathe in their blood. Maybe he would even take out the whole town in his joy. His slid down the tree trunk and was gone in seconds, scent carefully upwind of his prey and new targets.

Itachi stepped out of the driver's side of the car, looking up at the house he hadn't seen in a year. He was tall and thin like his brother, only he let his dark hair grow out longer so that it rested just above his waist. He tied it back in a loose ponytail to keep it from tangling. He wore black, from his shirt and jacket to his pants and boots. He was a vain creature and knew that black made him look good. A pair of black, mirror tinted glasses were taken off and put on top of his head to show red eyes. They were a bi-product of too much time spent in his other form in order to learn everything he could on his own. The glasses were always worn in public and most were of the opinion that he was blind. He closed the car door and made his way towards the house, his brother opening the door once he heard them.

"Oi, Sasuke, you little brat, come give me a hand with this," a loud booming voice called from the back of the car. Sasuke barely spared his brother a glance as he made his way to go help Kisame with the luggage. While Sasuke and his brother loved each other more than words, they had never really gotten along in large doses. Kisame, on the other hand, was a mutual friend. He was large and broad, built like a line-backer. His hair was short and spiky, and he had more earrings in one ear than Sasuke had seen in a piercing pagoda display. He had a suitcase in each hand and a duffel slung over one shoulder. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he grabbed the remaining carry-on. Kisame was such a drama queen sometimes.

Naruto stood in the doorway not knowing what to do with himself. Sasuke had told him that his brother and his friend were coming home and he had even helped to prep Itachi's old room and the couch, but he still felt like a third wheel. It was weird how Sasuke's brother stood there looking at him and… sniffing the air? He looked at Naruto and Naruto found himself lost in the same red eyes that Sasuke had when he was a panther. But that was impossible, right? Even if Itachi was wer, didn't the animal part of them disappear when they transformed back? 

Itachi walked towards him and Naruto noted that he had the same odd grace that Sasuke was in possession of. It must be some kind of wer trait.

"Get in the house," Itachi said and Naruto blinked at him. It seemed he also had the same ability to irritate the hell out of him too. What the hell? Didn't he at least get a formal introduction?

"What?" Naruto blurted out as Sasuke and Kisame come up on them. Kisame's small eyes were flickering between the two of them. Itachi's expression didn't change, but something flashed in those cat-like eyes of his.

"Get in the house. We have much to discuss," he moved his head so that he looked at his brother as he said it, "and the longer you stand here the greater the danger." Naruto wondered what the hell he was talking about. He moved back through the doorway and into the living room, deciding that Sasuke's brother must be fucking nuts. Itachi followed him in along with the others and sat in the single arm chair in the room. Naruto sat on the couch and Sasuke sat next to him, offering him an apologetic look. His brother was not being nice. Kisame just shook his head and took the luggage upstairs to Itachi's room. Once he was gone the silence seemed almost like a weight in the room.

"How much do you know about us and your situation, Naruto Uzumaki?" Itachi asked watching him intently. Naruto couldn't help but squirm under that gaze. It felt like he was looking into Naruto's soul. It didn't stop him from being curious. What did he mean by his situation?

"I know that you and Sasuke are wer," Naruto said slowly. Truly that was all that he knew about them. Sasuke had never really told him more than that and he hadn't really bothered to ask. Itachi nodded before his gaze shifted to his brother. Sasuke was doing his best to convey the fact that he didn't want his brother to tell Naruto about the fact that his father had been killed by a wer. He knew that Itachi would've recognized the signs, even if the police had turned in the official report saying that it was some kind of wild animal attack and not the murder they had first expected. Sasuke knew that Naruto still believed that it was murder, but he wanted to keep the extent of just what had happened to himself.

"Little brother," Itachi said putting a little bit of chiding into his normally emotionless voice, "I would've thought you would've told him everything by know. Especially, since he is sweet blood." Naruto wasn't the only one to give Itachi a what the fuck look. Itachi rubbed his temples and sighed. "Haven't you been reading the emails I've been sending you?" Sasuke flushed and looked away guiltily. The emails had been too long and boring for him to really read them. He had kept putting them off, and now it seemed that it was biting him in the ass. Sasuke had to suppress the urge to sink to his knees and bare his neck to Itachi. He had always been submissive to him and that was the only way that his beast understood how to apologize.

"Never mind," Itachi said sounding a little cross. He had not been traipsing all across the world for his own benefit. "Naruto, you are a sweet blood; meaning that you act like a beacon to every non-mated wer until you are mated." Sasuke felt color rushing to his cheeks at what his brother was saying and he made a mental promise to read each and every one of those emails even if they put him to sleep. Naruto just looked curious.

"What do you mean a beacon?" Naruto asked and Sasuke desperately wanted to sink into the couch. Itachi seemed utterly unconcerned with embarrassing his brother. He felt that his brother had brought it on himself by not reading his email like he was supposed to.

"To put it extremely crudely, Naruto, you are like a bitch in heat to every wer in the area who does not have a mate," Itachi said in his emotionless voice. Naruto choked as the words registered. That was just wrong.

"How?" Naruto asked before continuing on. "I mean, why?" Itachi brought his hands in front of his face and folded them.

"We have no clue, but it is strongly felt that there is a marker in your blood. A specific gene switched on in your genetic code, if you will," Itachi said seeming to almost warm to his subject. He even had Sasuke's attention now. "We travelled the world looking for an answer as to what had happened to Sasuke and me and how to control it. The methods for control were ancient; people had been dealing with it in secret since mankind began. The why has only started to some to light. It seems that there is a virus of some kind that instead of making the cells replicate its DNA, it switches 'on' a piece of 'junk' DNA that every human already has. That's why Sasuke and I are two different types of cats, but still cats. The 'junk' DNA is different for every person, meaning a different animal. Some animals are more likely in certain races of people and families, but each one is slightly different." Naruto tried to wrap his mind around what Itachi was saying. It sounded like some complex genetic question.

"Virus? Like the flu?" Naruto asked as he grasped onto the one thing he could understand. Itachi nodded, and that led to the next logical question in Naruto's mind. "Is it contagious?"

"In the same way AIDS is," Itachi said and Naruto felt the color drain out of his face. No wonder Sasuke had been so against having any kind of relationship with him. But Itachi was not done talking. "You'll get it if you do something stupid. There are three ways to end up becoming wer: someone bites you in their animal state, you get blood from a donor who has it, or you're born with it." Naruto couldn't help the little bit of relief flood through him at the words. "But I'm getting away from what is most important. Naruto, you need to get mated before wer start converging on this town. Unmated wer have a sort of radar for sweet bloods and they will be coming here. Not all of them will ask." Naruto laughed a little nervously. This was not a conversation he had ever dreamed of having, even if it sort of explained why that one wer had run off after smelling his scent.

"What do you mean mated?" Naruto was almost tempted not to ask, but he had to know. Sasuke was doing his best to pretend that this conversation was not going on between his brother and Naruto. He had a sneaking suspicion of where this was going and he had no intention of doing it regardless of what his brother or beast did to him. He was not going to let some animal make a decision like that for him. Itachi raised an eyebrow at Naruto.

"It means fucked, dominated, and bound to a wer for life. Wer take life mates, Naruto, which is why we don't really do the whole dating thing. We just find a sweet blood and claim it," Itachi decided that cruder explanations seemed to get through to Naruto better. Naruto found that it was a little hard to breathe. Hell no. But it seemed Itachi was done with him for the moment, as he set his sights on his brother. "And you seem to be the only one available, little brother. I've claimed mine and can't claim another, and Naruto seems to like you. It should get rid of the other, too." Sasuke glared at his brother, fighting back the automatic "yes brother" that was on his tongue. He hated the fact that Itachi was dominant to him.

"Um," Naruto said a little cross when his voice came out as a squeak at first, "I like Sasuke, and you're aware of it," Naruto looked at Sasuke to show that he was not trying to act like Sasuke wasn't there, "but that hardly means that we are compatible life long lovers." Sasuke nodded next to him despite the outrage on the part of his panther. Itachi chuckled as he found something funny in the statement. Sasuke couldn't help feeling laughed at and he growled a little in his displeasure. His brother could be such a bastard sometimes.

"I'm telling you this while you have a choice, Naruto, and the chance to stay human," Itachi said and it was like the laughter had never happened. Naruto and Sasuke both shot him a confused look. What did he mean while he had a choice? "You see, Sasuke's beast has already claimed you informally. Why do you think it didn't dismiss you as prey when it saw you? Sasuke may have control of it largely now, but once the full moon comes the beast will be in the forefront of his mind. It will bind itself to you and since the binding is in the form of a bite…" Sasuke was horrified. In all his years of having a beast, of dealing with the odd little quirks that came along with it, he had never felt as disgusted with it as he did now. He wanted to be able to make this decision for himself; he didn't want his beast to have that kind of control over his life. He didn't even care that Itachi had said it could be one way to get rid of the other wer that was hanging around. It was stifling to him and he wouldn't blame Naruto for hopping on the first plane back to LA.

Naruto stared down at his hands as he tried to digest the information he had just been given. It sounded very much like was being given two choices: stay and become Sasuke's mate or run. Running sounded pretty good, but from what Itachi had said earlier, it would only be a matter of time before he found himself in this same predicament again. He liked Sasuke, liked him a lot. He had been willing to over look the fact that he got furry once a month in order to be his boyfriend, but there had always been the possibility of leaving him if things didn't work out. Now, he knew that if he stayed he would become Sasuke's mate and neither one of them would be able to have anyone else. There would be no possibility of leaving if things didn't go as planned. It was scary and not something he wanted to really deal with so close to his father's death. It was too much for him right now.

"Can I have sometime to think on this?" Naruto asked as he looked up at the two of them. Itachi nodded once and he stood to go outside for a minute to think. Sasuke watched him go stunned. Was Naruto really thinking about saying yes?

"You had best go after him, little brother," Itachi said standing and brushing imaginary lint off his pants. "You know it's not safe for him to be wandering outside with that wer on the loose." Sasuke nodded and moved to go after him, but Itachi's voice stopped him. "You're not off the hook, Sasuke. I know what you're keeping from him, though I can't understand why. We're going to have to have a private chat soon." Sasuke bowed his head though he didn't look at his brother. He almost knew what he was going to tell him, but he would deal with that when he was forced to. He walked outside and found Naruto standing at the end of the driveway, arms wrapped around himself to help ward off the October chill. Sasuke watched him for a minute before moving so that he was next to him.

"Are you seriously thinking about saying yes to this?" Sasuke asked once Naruto had noticed him. Naruto let out a breath as he thought of how to explain his way of thinking to Sasuke.

"Yes," Naruto made sure that he was looking into Sasuke's eyes. "I'm the only one with a choice in this matter and if I say no it will only be a matter of time before some other wer finds me. When that happens," Naruto cut off the remark he knew Sasuke would make. Sasuke would tell him that he could just move again; go somewhere else so long as he didn't want to be bound to someone. He didn't want to live his life on the run like that. "I may not even like the person. I could be stuck with someone that I hate. At least with you I can claim we started as friends."Naruto looked up at the sky as he finished speaking and Sasuke frowned.

"I don't think you really understand what it means to become the mate of a wer," Sasuke said. Now that he had the information he did, the odd things in Itachi and Kisame's relationship made a lot more sense. He didn't want that for Naruto. "Once it's done you'll become like a possession to us. You'll forever be submissive to me. I don't know if you noticed the fact that Kisame does everything Itachi asks yet or not. Itachi could ask him to kill someone and he wouldn't think twice about doing it." Sasuke had spent all the time he had known Kisame thinking that he was too much of a follower to ever tell his brother no, but the new information was making things take on a different light. Naruto looked at Sasuke again and moved so that they were sharing body heat though not touching.

"I trust you to never do anything like that to me," Naruto said leaning closer. Maybe he was going to throw his future away by doing this, maybe he was going to come to resent and even hate Sasuke one day for taking his chance to live a normal life, but right now he felt like he loved him and it was enough. Naruto touched his lips tentatively to Sasuke's to seal the deal without speaking the words. He would have this memory regardless of how things ended up. The second Sasuke felt Naruto's lips on his he closed his eyes. They were cold and slightly chapped, but that didn't matter to him. Naruto was kissing him and he was not ready to let him go yet, damn it! He reached one hand up and pulled Naruto back to him for another kiss with a little growl. It was not gentle, but harsh and demanding. He did not ask for entrance to Naruto's mouth but took it. He invaded the other's mouth completely and dominated so that Naruto had no time to react. He purred into Naruto's mouth as he felt Naruto gripping his shirt. He bit Naruto's bottom lip hard enough to draw a small amount of blood, which he licked off, as he pulled away from the kiss.

"Are you still willing to say yes to this, Naruto?" Sasuke asked once he had his breath back. Both were a little out of breath, seeing as neither had thought about breathing through their nose, and Naruto was holding on to Sasuke's shirt like it was all that was keeping him up. Sasuke's beast was just under the surface taking an active interest in what was going on around it. It seemed like things were going the way it wanted. Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Sasuke, blue determination staring into his eyes.

"Yes," Naruto said as he forced his hands to let go of Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke gave him a small smile and Naruto couldn't resist the little thought buzzing around in the back of his mind. "Where the hell did you learn to kiss like that? Are you sure you haven't dated anyone before?" Sasuke glared at him and made to go back to the house.

"I'm positive, now shut up, dumbass."

* * *

Kakashi looked at the lab results in his hand. Yeah, Minato's death had been ruled an animal attack and the police had retracted their earlier claim of murder. Media buzz had died down, but Kakashi couldn't shake his instincts that were telling him something else had happened there. If it was an animal attack, why hadn't the animal bothered to eat? Even if the creature had been attacking in self defense it wouldn't waste the food that was presented. He had sent all the blood samples that had been gathered at the scene to the lab in order to figure out just what had attacked his boss. What the tech had found was shocking. There were two different times of blood, both of which were _human_.

He then asked the lab tech to give him a full profile on the second blood sample and started combing through the other evidence gathered. He learned that Minato had managed to get off one round from his gun and the fact that no bullet had been found at the scene suggested that whoever he fired at had been hit and was still walking around with a bullet wound. He had sent out for ER records at all the nearest ERs but he had a feeling that they weren't going to turn up anything. Especially, now that he had the full blood profile in his hands. He only seen results like this once before. He touched his dark eye and sighed. The man who had given this to him had had the same type of anomaly in his blood. This was not good. Not good at all.

* * *

Itachi found Kisame putting clothes away in drawers when he made his way up to his room. Kisame was his mate and as such his beast reacted the second he walked into the room. It seemed to almost uncoil from the pit of his stomach, the tiger lazily stalking its pretend prey for some not so prey related activities. Itachi calmly told it later, not willing to do such in the house where his brother was not so sure about his own mate. It just seemed rude somehow. Itachi allowed himself to touch, however, and rested his head on the back of Kisame's neck. Kisame stopped what he was doing briefly before continuing.

"So how badly did you have to lie?" Kisame asked with no judgment in his voice. Kisame had been against him lying at all. He wanted him to give them all the right information and let them adjust to it, but Itachi knew his brother would just rebel against it. Itachi sighed and closed his eyes.

"Just a little. I left out the part that only those compatible with each other could scent the fact that one was a sweet blood. If I hadn't said that it was every one of us, Sasuke would've martyred himself by forcing Naruto away. You know that Naruto needs all the protection he can get and there is a small chance that the wer was prepping him to become his mate," Itachi said moving with Kisame's back and forth sway. Kisame had to always be on the move. It was one of the things that Itachi liked about him. Itachi let out a small purr, feeling relaxed here with him. He was not naturally an affectionate man and often had to force it unless someone was trying to do something to Kisame, but when he was tired and they weren't in public he found himself more so. Kisame turned around with a chuckle and held Itachi to him.

"You know, I'm almost jealous of how much you seem to care about your brother," Kisame said with a grin. He couldn't really be that jealous, he felt like Sasuke was his little brother too in a way. Itachi shot him a look and pulled away.

"I'm going to take a shower. I can still smell the jungle on me," Itachi said heading out the door to the room. Kisame rolled his eyes. He thought that big cats were supposed to _like_ the jungle.

* * *

It was odd around the table in Sasuke's kitchen that night. The kiss had left things awkward between Sasuke and Naruto, and Naruto was seriously thinking about going vegetarian after seeing Itachi inhale two baboon steaks without any attempt at cooking at all. Naruto was just thankful that Kisame had the foresight to get some half-way decent groceries. Naruto was eating a very basic spaghetti because he had felt weird about asking to cook in someone else's house even if he was staying there on a somewhat residential basis. No one was really speaking, though Kisame had tried to start a conversation a few times.

"Have you made your decision, Naruto?" Itachi asked out of the blue making Naruto start a little from his thoughts. He wondered if bluntness was something that ran through the family or if it was a product of not having parents for a period.

"Yes," Naruto said slowly trying to meet Sasuke's eyes next to him. Oddly, Sasuke kept looking at his brother and that had Naruto nervous. Did Sasuke not want him to do this? Was Sasuke doing this out of some kind of guilt or duty to him? The doubts started to bubble up as Itachi watched him for his answer. Without any outward sign of doing anything, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's hand under the table and gave it a soft squeeze before letting go. Relief flooded Naruto and he found his voice again. That small touch had been enough to drive the doubt away for now. "I'm going to stay." Itachi nodded like he had just told him that the weather outside was getting colder. Kisame on the other hand seemed almost overjoyed.

"Welcome to the family, Naruto," Kisame said slapping him on the back and nearly causing Naruto to face plant into his spaghetti. "Sorry," Kisame said as he realized what had happened and Naruto found Sasuke smirking at him. He glared at Sasuke and was half tempted to stick his tongue out at him.

"So when are you planning on doing this? I suggest sooner rather than later," Itachi said as he stood and took his bloody plate to the sink. Naruto couldn't help the blush that began creeping up his neck. Did Itachi have ice running in his veins? That was not really dinner conversation.

"Why?" Sasuke asked next to him and Naruto was pleased to note that he seemed a little embarrassed as well. Itachi looked at the two of them, and Naruto almost swore that he saw amusement in his eyes.

"Because Kisame and I both want to be out of the house. I have very good hearing, remember?" Itachi said making Naruto want to bury his head in his hands. This was so damn weird. Sasuke just wanted to find the nearest hole and hide in it. He was beginning to wonder why he had even missed his brother in the first place.

"We haven't really talked about it," Sasuke said as he glared at his brother. He knew that Naruto looked like he was going to die in embarrassment, and it had both him and his panther feeling a little protective. Itachi shrugged as Kisame got up and took everyone's plates to the sink. He was so used to doing dishes it had become automatic.

"Whatever, just let me know when," Itachi said playing with a strand of hair that had become loose. "I'm still suffering from a little jetlag. I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight." He gave a little finger wave as he walked out of the room. Naruto gave Sasuke a look as they both moved to go somewhere private. Itachi was right, they were going to have to plan things a little better than this. Naruto followed Sasuke to his room and sat on the bed while Sasuke took the chair. There was an awkward silence as they both waited for the other to speak.

"So…," Naruto said when he felt like he was going to smother in the silence. "How do you want to do this?" Naruto was no virgin and he had a feeling he knew how nervous Sasuke was feeling at the moment. He remembered his first time on this front and he had been so worried that he was going to do something horribly wrong. Sasuke fought the color that was threatening to rise on his cheeks. This was so damn weird.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked and almost wanted to smack himself in the head once the words were out of his mouth. He wasn't completely ignorant of sex, and since he realized that he might, maybe, like guys he had looked into the mechanics of that. Not that he would ever admit to it under pain of death. Naruto, on the other hand, was trying to think of ways to word what he wanted to ask without making Sasuke's virgin ass run.

"I know that from Itachi's explanation earlier that there is little chance for me to top," Naruto said after a minute, "But how much do you know about it?" It was a question that had to be asked. It was literally Naruto's ass on the line. He would prefer to show Sasuke by example what he needed to do, but had a feeling that it wouldn't go over well, at least at this point. Sasuke lost the battle to keep his blush down and Naruto couldn't help but wonder how far down it went.

"I know enough," Sasuke mumbled and Naruto barely managed to catch it, "not to hurt you." That was enough for Naruto. Sasuke wasn't looking at him, instead concentrating on his hands in his lap. Naruto got up off the bed and moved to stand next to Sasuke. Gently, he lifted Sasuke's chin so that Sasuke looked at him.

"Never be embarrassed about this, Sasuke," Naruto said softly. "If you can't talk to me about these basics then how will you ever tell me what you want? Good sex involves communication." He gave Sasuke a small peck on his lips before moving to leave. He felt that he had embarrassed Sasuke enough for one day. Sasuke blinked as the kiss registered in his mind

"Naruto?" Sasuke said and Naruto turned to look at him, hand on the doorknob. "Can we do this tomorrow? It's the last day you have off from school and Itachi and Kisame can go shopping to make sure we have something decent to eat in the house and…" Sasuke trailed off as he realized he was babbling. Naruto smiled and nodded, once more going to leave. "Can you sleep here tonight?" Sasuke asked and Naruto turned around again. He looked at him in confusion.

"I am sleeping here," Naruto said pointing to the set of folded up blankets on the floor next to Sasuke's chair. He had planned on giving the couch to Kisame and there only being two rooms meant that he was going to have to sleep on the floor in Sasuke's room again.

"No," Sasuke said getting frustrated with his inability to say what he meant because of his nerves. "I meant…" He looked at the bed before back to Naruto. There was almost an audible click as Naruto understood what he meant.

"Oh," he said clearing his throat. "Oh, okay. Sure. If you want me to." Sasuke nodded and Naruto finally made it out the door and down the stairs to try to watch some TV for a while. His mind felt like Swiss cheese. This was a lot to have happen in one afternoon.

* * *

Reviews:

Redfoxmoon: The media got the picture of Sasuke preventing Naruto from punching out Kakashi, which Itachi found on the internet. I think I outlined why the police initially suspected foul play, but largely it was because of the fact that Minato only had his throat cut and the animal didn't try to eat him or drag him somewhere for latter. That is not normal animal behavior.

Stoic Sol: I'm all for Suigetsu leaving big chucks of her missing so that she has to explain it to people she meets. It would be funny as hell. I'm glad you like my villain. I take pride in my bad guys and do everything I can to make them come across as three dimensional. There is nothing worse than a 2D cliché villain. Itachi isn't overly concerned with Naruto living with Sasuke now that he has realized the need for it.

Jadej.j: Do you know who my little evil wer is? Do tell. I love guesses. Helps to keep me on my toes, ya know.

Astoroche: I doubt that Sasuke would give Naruto the emo virus. Naruto's hyperness would beat the shit out of the puny little emo things. I like protective Sasuke too. I'm working really hard to show that love is not instantaneous. There's attraction and friendship first. Everyone knows that you should be protective of your friends, though only lovers reach the level of protective that Sasuke is at. There will be more kitty Sasuke, though it will likely be angry kitty Sasuke.

HatakeKasumi: I think Naruto is going to take up permanent residency for the moment. That could changed depending on a lot of things (like how he finds out just how his father died and that Sasuke was keeping it from him, how safe he feels once the wer gets on the move again, etc.). Now Itachi is here, but I'm kinda worried he came off as OC, but I tried. He's hard to do when he's not a bad guy.

Kabuto-pants: good. I didn't want to offend. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.

Shadow pheonix143: Don't cry! I'm a sympathy crier and it's so hard to write through tears. My house is okay, though. Thanks for your thoughts.

ToSet: hope you continue to love it.

IceNight009: The pictures were from the news media that had gathered outside of Naruto's house after hearing that his father was dead. They were used as an internet story, which is how Itachi found out. Itachi doesn't like the idea of his brother being exposed like that. All it takes is someone who knows what to look for like him and his brother could be in deep shit. Did you get the whole week off from school? We did and we got flooded out in my town real bad. I'm okay though.

NaTsUKO-CHAn: Don't worry, I wasn't offended. I'll put a warning on more gory stuff for you though. I forget not everyone likes to watch gory movies for the fun of it….' I hope you still love the direction of the story.

Kai: Jiraya doesn't have Naruto stay with him because of the fact he still lives in California and is only visiting, and Tsunade knows that if the two of them stay together they'll end up doing nothing except crying the entire time. She's also kind of noticed that something is going on with him and Sasuke (the hug last chapter for instance). And Sasuke's house only has 

two bedrooms. The other one was made into a kind of study storage place… We should be getting back to school in the next two chapters, but don't quote me on that.

Lifeblood92: I can't have you going through withdrawal! You might find something else to fill your addiction and then where will I be? T.T I'm glad you think my story is so very awesome.

Bluewolfeyes: Glad you enjoyed it. Here's your next dose.

A Single Fragile Rose: I can't forget to update. There is an evil little plot bunny who keeps poking me with a spork going: "Remember to update me…" It's really kinda creepy…

Leo Vulpes: I got awards! Woot! You totally made my day!

Argy Bargy: Glad you think it's a good wer fic. I try so very hard. I'm glad you enjoyed the evil slime of doom. The wer is not Madara. That would be too horribly cliché.


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